Switzerland is still an iPhone country

What are the most popular smartphones in Switzerland? In a representative survey, Moneyland.ch asked 1,500 people in Switzerland which smartphones they use and how satisfied they are with them.

The most popular smartphone among Swiss people is the iPhone: 40.8 percent of all respondents use a smartphone from the American Apple company. Samsung follows in second place: 35 percent of respondents use a smartphone from the South Korean manufacturer.

"It is surprising that Apple is still the clear leading smartphone manufacturer in Switzerland. Our representative survey clearly shows that Switzerland continues to be Apple country," sums up Ralf Beyeler of Moneyland.ch.

In third place after Apple and Samsung is the Chinese manufacturer Huawei - 8.8 percent of the Swiss population has a Huawei device. Nokia follows with 3.5 percent and Sony with 3.3 percent. All other smartphone brands reach a significantly smaller number of Swiss customers. Fairphone, Google Pixel, Honor, HTC, LG, Oppo, Wiko and Xiaomi have a share of less than 1.5 percent. The brands Oppo and Xiaomi have hardly been known in Switzerland so far, but are now making a name for themselves as suppliers of 5G-compatible devices for Swisscom and Sunrise.

Apple's iPhone is slightly more popular in German-speaking Switzerland (41.4 percent) than in French-speaking Switzerland (39.7 percent). Conversely, Samsung devices are more widespread in French-speaking Switzerland (37.9 percent) than in German-speaking Switzerland (33.4 percent). In French-speaking Switzerland, there is a neck-and-neck race between Apple (39.7 percent) and Samsung (37.9 percent) - Apple's popularity lead over Samsung is therefore just 1.8 percentage points. In German-speaking Switzerland, however, Apple still has a clear lead of 8 percentage points over Samsung with 41.4 percent.

It is also interesting to note that Huawei is slightly more popular in German-speaking Switzerland (9.2 percent) than in French-speaking Switzerland (7.5 percent). Conversely, Nokia is slightly more popular in French-speaking Switzerland (4.2 percent) than in German-speaking Switzerland (2.9 percent).

The iPhone is more popular with Swiss women than with men: 44 percent of the women surveyed use an iPhone from Apple, compared with only 37.4 percent of men. Samsung smartphones, on the other hand, are similarly popular with men (35.4 percent) as with women (34.6 percent). Devices from Huawei, in turn, are more popular with men (9.3 percent) than with women (8.3 percent). The difference is somewhat surprising for devices from Sony, whose smartphones are twice as popular with men (4.4 percent) as with women (2.2 percent).

The iPhone is more popular in the city (42.1 percent) than in the countryside (37.3 percent). The situation is different for Samsung: In rural areas, 35.5 percent of respondents said they use a Samsung device, while in cities the figure is virtually the same at 34.8 percent. Devices from Huawei (9.8 percent) and Nokia (6.0 percent) are more popular in rural areas than in cities, with 8.5 percent (Huawei) and 2.6 percent (Nokia) respectively.

The iPhone is particularly popular with the youngest age group between 18 and 25: Every second young person (50.2 percent) has an iPhone. In the population as a whole, by contrast, the figure is only 40.8 percent. The situation is quite different for Samsung: Only 24.9 percent of young respondents have a Samsung smartphone. Huawei, on the other hand, is significantly more popular with the young than with older generations.

In the middle age group between 26 and 49, the differences compared with the overall population are not significant. Both iPhones (41.7 percent) and Samsung smartphones (36.9 percent) are slightly more popular than among the overall population.

Surprisingly, among the oldest age group surveyed, 50 to 74-year-olds, smartphones from Samsung are more popular than iPhones from Apple. Samsung comes in at 36.8 percent, Apple only at 35.8 percent. It is also striking that the revived Nokia brand is more widespread among older consumers: As many as 5.4 percent of respondents between the ages of 50 and 74 use a Nokia smartphone. "The first cell phone of the older respondents was probably one from Nokia. Slightly older customers in particular still know the Nokia brand well and are now buying Nokia devices again," says Ralf Beyeler.

In addition to the prevalence, respondents were also asked about their satisfaction with their smartphone. Respondents could rate their satisfaction between 1 (not at all satisfied) and 10 (very satisfied).

The respondents are most satisfied with smartphones from Samsung and Huawei. Both providers received an average of 8.4 out of 10 points. The iPhone from Apple follows in third place with 8.3 out of 10 points.

The other places are Nokia (8.1 points), HTC (7.3 points), Sony and Wiko (7.2 points each), and Xiaomi (7.0 points). The number of ratings for LG, Fairphone, Honor and Google Pixel were too low for a representative evaluation.

"The differences in satisfaction among the three big vendors Apple, Samsung and Huawei are small. All three providers manufacture smartphones with which customers are obviously satisfied," says Ralf Beyeler.

The three largest smartphone manufacturers Apple, Samsung and Huawei are all in first place among respondents from German-speaking Switzerland, each with 8.4 out of 10 points. In French-speaking Switzerland, the three major providers are close together: Samsung takes first place with 8.5 out of 10 points, followed by Huawei (8.4 points) and Apple (8.3 points).

Surprisingly, men are most satisfied with Nokia phones: They award 8.6 out of 10 points. They are followed by Huawei (8.5 points) and Samsung (8.4 points). Another surprise is that the iPhone only comes in fourth place among men with 8.3 out of 10 points in terms of satisfaction.

The women surveyed are most satisfied with Samsung (8.5 out of 10 points). They are followed by the iPhone (8.4 points), Huawei (8.3 points) and Sony (7.9 points). 

Respondents from the city are most satisfied with smartphones from Huawei (8.5 out of 10 points). They are followed by Samsung (8.4 points) and Apple (8.2 points).

In the country, Apple's iPhone and Nokia's cell phones score very high marks in satisfaction with 8.7 out of 10 points each. Samsung (8.5 points) and Huawei (8.3 points) follow in the other places.

The youngest respondents aged between 18 and 25 are most satisfied with Samsung devices, awarding them 8.3 out of 10 points. The iPhone follows in second place with 8.2 out of 10 points, and Huawei in third place with 7.9 out of 10 points.

There is a big surprise among respondents between the ages of 26 and 49: They are most satisfied with Nokia, awarding it 8.7 out of 10 points. HTC follows in second place with 8.6 out of 10 points. Huawei takes third place with 8.5 out of 10 points. The market leaders Samsung (8.4 out of 10 points) and Apple (8.2 out of 10 points), on the other hand, only make it to fourth and fifth place.

The picture in the age group between 50 and 74 is as follows: The smartphones from Apple and Samsung receive a satisfaction score of 8.6 out of 10. Huawei is in third place with 8.5 out of 10 points. Nokia receives 8.1 out of 10 points.