“The smart phone market has consistently shown explosive growth in ChangeWave surveys – and with manufacturers locked in an arms race to produce ever sleeker models with the newest technologies and fastest speeds, which ones are best meeting the nearly insatiable demands of consumers? To find out, ChangeWave asked 1,009 consumers who had purchased smart phones within the past six months to rate their new models and tell us why they chose them, how satisfied they are, and what they most like and dislike about them.
Customer Satisfaction Ratings
First, ChangeWave looked at customer satisfaction with the new smart phones respondents had purchased during the past six months.
The following chart shows the percentage who said they were Very Satisfied with the smart phone they’d purchased – broken out by manufacturer:
There are no surprises in terms of the industry leader. As in ChangeWave’s previous surveys, the Apple iPhone outperforms all others in terms of customer satisfaction – with 77% of new Apple owners reporting they’re Very Satisfied with the iPhone they purchased.
In comparison, only half of recent HTC buyers (51%) report they’re Very Satisfied with their smart phone, as do 46% of recent RIM buyers.
Likelihood of New Owners Returning Their Phone
Overall, just 14% of new owners reported they’re Likely to return or exchange their new smart phone for a different one (6% Very Likely; 8% Somewhat Likely). But when ChangeWave looks at the likelihood of returning smart phones by different manufacturers, they find stark differences:
Apple (7%) buyers were least likely to say they’d be returning or exchanging their new smart phone for a different one. In contrast, Palm buyers (36%) were most likely to say they’d return or exchange their new smart phone.
iPhone a Continuing Threat to Competitors
With rumors swirling about the release of a new iPhone that can be used on Verizon’s and Sprint’s CDMA cellular network, ChangeWave asked respondents whether they’d have still purchased their new smart phone if the iPhone had been available at their cellular service provider at the time of purchase.
The results show the continuing threat the iPhone poses to the rest of the industry.
Nearly one-in-three new smart phone buyers (32%) say they’d have instead bought the iPhone if it had been available at their service provider and another 29% said they don’t know.
Note that additional ChangeWave Smart Phone findings include:
• Customer Satisfaction Ratings for Top Smart Phone Models
• Reasons Why New Owners Chose Their Particular Smart Phone
• Key Likes and Dislikes
• Operating System Satisfaction Ratings
More information on the ChangeWave Smart Phone survey results here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve used Android phones. They’re all poor imitations of an iPhone. Using an Android phone after you’ve used an iPhone is both frustrating and humorous. The day Apple flips the switch on Verizon, is the day Google dreads. In countries where iPhone is available on multiple carriers, people don’t settle for Android-based fake iPhones. – MacDailyNews Take, May 20, 2010