66% of Phone and Tablet Users Don't Care About the OS, Study Says

According to a recent study by Accenture, two-thirds of smartphone and tablet users have no deep-seated brand loyalty when it comes to specific mobile operating systems. Smartphone and tablet owners do not think about the importance of running Android, iOS, or Windows on their devices.

The Accenture study also finds that 24 percent of users tested will not think twice about switching just to explore what else is available on the market. Twenty-three percent will change to get better user experience, while another 23 percent will gladly abandon their current mobile OS just to get their hands on "more innovative services and applications."

The findings of Accenture's 2013 Consumer Electronics Study are bad news for leading mobile device manufacturers, Apple and Google, and possibly good news for new-in-the-mobile-game Microsoft.

"Overall, our survey found there is not widespread loyalty among consumers about operating systems used on their smartphones, tablets and PCs," Kumu Puri, a managing director at Accenture, told VentureBeat's John Koetsier via email. "They are willing to try different operating systems and are not, generally, locked into using any one single platform."

This may come as a surprise because mobile device manufacturers place a premium on the influence of the ecosystem to build brand loyalty. For instance, if a user has an iOS-based device and have bought apps, books, movies, and music to go with it, then switching to an Android device means giving up the previously accumulated expensive content. The same rationale applies, more and more, to Google Play.

Reasons for switching devices include basic curiosity, lower prices, less hassle, higher level of security, and better syncing with an existing in-car system. Although the Accenture survey did not pinpoint this, it is tempting to assume that reduced prices would be in favor of Android devices, less hassle for Apple products, and better in-car syncing for Microsoft solutions.

Another surprising finding is that the mobile device owners Accenture categorized as "strong users," or those who own at least two devices running on the same mobile operating system, are not that different from other users. 17 percent of the total sample believes that it is "extremely important" to possess all or almost all devices on only one platform, and only another five percent of those who are deemed as strong users agree with them.

"In fact, about one-fifth of this group actually seems to be strong users by coincidence," the Accenture study remarked. "They say they don't have a preferred OS or don't care what operating system they have."

The findings of the study must be kept in mind by mobile device manufacturers while building their ecosystems. (KOM) Link. Link