A quarter (25%) of Apple fans in the UK are considering switching brands in the wake of recent price rises and an increasingly stretched household budget, a new survey reveals.
Publishing group Purch, owners of leading tech titles including Tom’s Hardware, Tom’s Guide and LiveScience, commissioned the survey of 2,000 consumers to find out what technologies consumers in the UK were planning on spending their money on over the next 6 months and what mattered most to them post Brexit when making buying decisions.
The results include:
· Smartphones remain the most popular tech choice with 22% of those asked saying they will be purchasing a device in the next 6 months
· 25% of Apple fans are considering switching brand loyalty in the wake of Brexit vote price rises
· Consumers cite quality and specification (57%) and price (34%) as key determinants of purchase
· Only 5% of consumers viewed brand as the key element of their decision making
Of purchases consumers intend to made within the next six months, the most popular are smartphones (22%), laptops (20%), TVs (16%) and Tablets (13%). At the bottom of the list were AI assistants (4%), Gaming Consoles (6%), Gaming PCs (2%), Gaming Headsets (2%). However, a significant 42% of those surveyed said they didn’t intend to buy any technology in the next six months.
Looking at the impact on specific brands, the survey, undertaken independently by OnePoll for Purch, showed that Apple’s significant price hikes has prompted 25% of consumers to look elsewhere and 31% have said they would consider switching brands away from Apple if prices continue to rise. The impact of price adjustments for leading brands like DELL, HP or Lenovo has had a much less effect with only 12% of people saying they might switch brand allegiance.
For those consumers looking to purchase technology post-Brexit vote, by the far the most popular resource for decision making is online reviews (61%) closely followed by shopping around on the high street (49%) and friends (20%). Magazines attracted a mere 6% of consumer attention, with women 5% more likely to shop around than men and 6% more likely to undertake online research than men.
However, despite a more tentative and price-conscious consumer, it is quality and specification that ultimately supersedes price as the most important consideration when making a technology purchase. 57% of those surveyed chose quality and specification as the key criteria and 34% choosing price.
“The consumers who are aware of price increases have started to amend their purchasing patterns accordingly, however 60% of consumers surveyed were still unaware of the price adjustments taking place in the market” said André Baden-Semper, VP Europe at Purch.
“Our research shows that people are more likely to shop around following the Brexit vote, increasingly likely to read online reviews of products before purchasing and are becoming more brand agnostic as getting higher specs and better value for money become the key consideration, a factor that brands need to take into growing consideration.”
