Apple’s iconic iPhone appears to be dropping in popularity among UAE users, according to a new survey.

New data from YouGov’s BrandIndex shows iPhone perception scores equal with Samsung Galaxy for the first time since 2016.

The survey comes following recent launches from both tech giants, with Apple releasing a trio of new versions of its iPhone iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

Despite the launches, YouGov BrandIndex data shows iPhone has seen a decline in Index score from 51.8 in July 2017 to 44.3 in July 2018, hitting an even lower score of 41.8 as of mid-October 2018.

This decline has put it in the same league as rival brand Samsung Galaxy, whose Index score though lower than iPhone’s score last year, has only seen a marginal reduction this year (41.3 at the end of October 2018).

While Apple’s launch of its anniversary edition iPhone X in November did provide a bounce for the brand, the brand saw a huge drop in its Index score from mid-November 2017 to February 2018.

Metrics

Historically, the Samsung Galaxy normally scores higher than iPhone when it comes to value, but the Apple has always been stronger when it comes to measuring quality.

YouGov said that while the iPhone is still perceived as being higher quality than Samsung Galaxy, the gap in perception is less than half of what it was a year ago - 20.4 points in July 2017 to 8.2 points in mid-October 2018.

“Consumers in the smartphone segment are always hungry for the next big thing, but it seems they are tiring of the slow, incremental change of the past few years,” said Scott Booth, head of BrandIndex, MENA.

“The data shows that despite iPhone’s recent product launches and huge advertising spends, consumers are not demonstrating the same enthusiasm for the brand as we have seen historically.

“The huge decline in iPhone’s Index score puts it on par with arch rival Samsung Galaxy, showing us a hint of vulnerability in the venerable smartphone power brand. At this point, the smartphone landscape is nearly at parity while major brands proceed with incremental handset changes, suggesting consumers are waiting to see who will bring the next major evolution.”