Other recent data show that users' attachments to their smartphone brands can be strong.
In a December poll by SurveyMonkey Audience, 98.18 percent of respondents said their cellphone was "extremely important" or "very important" in their lives, and 94.05 percent said they felt anxious when they were without it.
The nonscientific survey, which polled 513 U.S. consumers between the ages of 25 and 60, found that 91.82 percent were either Apple or Samsung users (Apple: 58.18 percent; Samsung, 33.64 percent) and that 93.57 percent of people felt at least somewhat loyal to their brand. 90.83 percent of respondents also reported that they felt passionate about their phones. Only 3.17 percent felt little or no passion for their device.
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In fact, survey respondents said lively debates and trash-talking are commonplace among smartphone enthusiasts, though heated arguments are unusual (13.78 percent). Rarer still—though not unheard of—are physical altercations (2.86 percent).
Android user Allen Levings, owner of Revolution Studios in Las Vegas, calls Apple users "sheeple."
"[Apple users] follow the crowd," he said. "Techy, geeky personalities tend toward Android, whereas people who choose iPhone are more status conscious. The iPhone is a status symbol. Why do people wait in these insanely long lines? Status. There seems to be a bit of brainwashing going on."
Levings insists his aversion stems from "the way Apple does business."
"They're too controlling over their products," he said. "I don't want Apple to tell me I can only download music from Apple and only watch the movies Apple tells me to."
Peter Shankman, founder of the social networking start-up HARO and author of several business advice books, owns a Galaxy Note 4 phone as well as an iPad and an Apple laptop.
"It's the classic MAC versus PC argument," he said. "In terms of phones, I'm pro-Android because I just think it's a better phone. When I upgrade, which is probably every six months, all I have to do is insert a new SIM Card and the phone repopulates instantly. I'm not going around saying, 'All Hail the Church of Android,' but Android perfectly combines form and functionality."
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New Yorker Dan Nainan, a comedian and former senior Intel engineer, is an iPhone loyalist.
"My iPhone essentially runs my life," he said.
Nainan, who once appeared on a "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercial, said he formerly owned a Samsung Galaxy Note and "could not stand it."
"I'm the ultimate geek, but when it comes to my phone I don't want a lot of nonsense. On the Android there are too many variables," he said.
Some of the snarkiest comments from smartphone loyalists can be found on online subreddits with provocative names like Cult of Android, Android Master Race and Apple Circle Jerk. There, Apple and Android haters can express techie outrage at the opposing team's image, perceived technological deficiencies and pretty much anything else that annoys them.
For his part, Shankman says he is frequently offered iPhone cases as corporate gifts but when he tells them he has a Samsung, "there's this long pause. Then they say, "Ohhhhh,'—you know, like, they offered me a free pair of sneakers and I told them I only have one foot."
Neither Apple nor Samsung responded to requests for comment.
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