“Prosper Mobile Insights recently released a report of its ‘Simultaneously Media Usage Survey,’ which interviewed 25,000 respondents in June,” Adyty M reports for IBTimes. “The survey showed that Blackberry was on top for households with incomes $150,000 and up.”
“Among the wealthiest group of smartphone owners, 11.3 per cent have BlackBerry, 10.9 percent own iPhones and 7.2 percent have Android smartphones,” Adyty M reports. “The same is the case with the people in the income group of $100,000 to $149,000, where 21.2 percent use Blackberry and 19.1 and 15.8 per cent have iPhones and Android, respectively.”
“The iPhone does have a slight edge over Blackberry in the upper-middle income group of $75,000 to $99,000. About 20 percent in this category prefer the iPhone, topping Blackberry users at 18.7 percent,” Adyty M reports. “Android, which is less preferred in the higher income group, is people’s choice in the middle-income group, whose household income ranges from $35,000 to $49,000, with 14.3 percent of smartphone owners.”
“Blackberry owners, who often are professionals, businessmen or managers, are not very active users of apps or mobile online multimedia, and only 59.5 percent download apps, compared with 85 percent of the iPhone users, the survey says,” Adyty M reports. “The most probable reason for Blackberry overshadowing iPhone, other than the price difference, is its multitasking ability. The iPhone doesn’t allow third-party apps to run in the background, thereby forcing the user to do things one at a time, closing the running app to open another, which is a sticking point for many.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That bit about multitasking being the reason is just bull excrement thrown in by the scribbler of the article and is not found anywhere in the Prosper Mobile Insights’ report. Apple’s iOS has allowed third-party apps to run in the background since the release of iOS 4 on June 21, 2010.
The most likely reason why BlackBerry is still hanging on in higher income classes is that, in general, older people tend to make more money and, in general, older people also tend to be behind the curve when it comes to tech. They likely lug Dell laptops around, too. They’ll catch up – or die off – eventually.
Are you freaking kidding me? BlackBerry is the choice of the idiotic, entitled, douche rich, like Paris Hilton, who came by their riches by way of money left to them through inheritance and trust funds, not the rich who made their money by the sweat of their brows. What a dickhead article.
actually I think Paris Hilton uses an iPhone. She’s stupid but not that stupid.
There he goes again. BLN is showing that he can’t manage a short paragraph without resorting to vulgarity and ‘potty’ language. Even his moniker is based on ‘potty’ speak.
It shows you having having a lot of money doesn’t necessarily make you smart.
As a senior citizen still in the $150,000 and up category who has been using Macs since ’84 and stood in line for the first 3G iPad, I must say that there is nothing wrong with my 6 year old Motorola flip phone plus 3G data for my iPad.
When something better comes along, I’ll buy it.
There has, it’s called “The iPhone.” Motorola flip phone? Get real. I had one of those, operative word is “had”. If all you need is to make calls, have at it cuz that’s all you’re gonna get. But why deprive yourself? I’m 58 btw and I’m all in for the full Apple deal and much happier for it.
… Senior Citizen … but in a much lower income bracket. I’m still using a flip-phone. Is it in any way “better” than an iPhone? Not hardly. Is the iPhone in any way “better” for My Needs? Umm … no? Two of my three kids love their iPhones. Because they are better … for Their Needs … just not for mine.
57 here, same income bracket, but have only used Apple gear since ’86 (a newcomer I guess). I frankly use my iPhone very little as a phone, but use it incessantly for music, audiobooks, and lots of utility apps. A flip phone is fine for phone calls, but nothing else; an iPad if great for the everything else, but doesn’t fit in my pocket. The iPhone is the one object that is on my person, or within reach, at all times.
There are only 3 kinds of Blackberry users. 1 The business users how are issued Blackberries from work. 2 The old and unknowing and 3, the people frontin like they’re the titans of the world.
@chris. This is an English language forum. Please have a go at writing in English. No, I’m not a language pedant, doing so just helps with communication.
so let me get this straight, of the wealthiest smartphone people, only 29.4% use either BB, iOS or Android?? what the deuce are the other 70.6% of these people using??
and if we drop it a tier, only 56.1% are using one of the troika?? I call BS on this report. those percentages see awfully low.
If true, this proves that the super-rich are also stupid, which means they probably stole their riches, which everyone already knows but inwardly denies because of the disturbing implications.
Actually, I think it proves that the rich are, by and large, the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” crowd. Up until now, the BB has been working fine for their needs. I’m sure that if there was a compelling (read: profit-making or loss-preventing) reason to switch, they’d do so in a heartbeat, but for what they currently do, it’s working fine for them. When Apple or some iOS developer gets around to analyzing that situation and making the killer app for this class of user, they’ll start converting in droves.
… please all get the real world perspective…
people before the iPhone used to use BB more as it was all they needed ( or was available… ) – secure consistent – email !
Some surveys say a large percentage of people don’t use more than 10% of a normal phone – let alone a smart phone..
i myself have recommended and made a few friends use the iPhone – they all use it mostly like a normal phone barring the occasional dabble into other things that their kids or clients make them do ..
and a lot of them STILL like a physical keyboard ! Contrary to popular Apple wired people understanding ( I’ve been on the iPhone since launch – awaiting 5.0 ) there is a whole world out there that needs a great phone that just works ! at best add two sims or CDMA/GSM phone .. but just a phone and great sms capability.
Most people never used more than 10% of their feature phones because it was far too complex or difficult to do. Plus, if you wanted to web surf on a RAZR, you often had to pay by the minute. Simply not worth it.
I think most people who prefer physical keyboards have never really tried a virtual keyboard. If you’re used to a physical one, it will take a week or so to move over, but then you’ll like it better. If you want larger buttons, you need a virtual keyboard so you can turn the phone landscape.
There may be more current owners of BB in those income brackets, but judging by the severe drop in BB sales over the past several months, those number will change significantly in the next 6-12 months.
THis multitasking thing is a red herring. You can’t do more than one thing at a time on a smartphone anyway, except for listen to something (music, phone call) while you use one other app. There’s no screen room (especially on a BB!) to use more than one app at a time. Apple’s solution of placing an app in sleep/standby mode is perfect for battery savings and for users.
Even PC multitasking is baloney for most people. Very rarely will someone need to have an app crunching away in the background while they check their email. It’s certainly not needed on smartphones, or even tablets.
Well this just goes to show that money doesn’t buy class.
Or good taste.
My Aunt is rich and I know a few other rich people. From what I can tell, rich people just tend to be out of touch. They don’t think about things like phones because they don’t have to. They probably just go into a store and ask for a phone with the most feature. The guy in the store sells them a BB because it has the most buttons (read features).
People talk about an annual income of over $150,000 as being “super rich”. My partner and I are both working professionals with bachelors degrees in a major city, something I don’t imagine is that uncommon among other people in their early 20s like us, and we are making nearly $150,000/yr. I wouldn’t call us “super rich” by any means. We live comfortably, save plenty, and enjoy a few vacations a year, as I imagine most people in our position and age groupe do as well (at least the ones I know). I’m not sure what’s so exceptional about us, as many people on this thread seem to think. Anyway, we both have iPhones 🙂
it seems the only thing exceptional about you is your complete lack of basic reality. Congrats to you and your salaries and multiple vacations, i harbor no ill will towards your success, but it only goes to show what many others are pointing out in how out of touch with reality most of the “super rich” are.
Either the survey is bollocks or the rich are also stupid.
All this study proves is that Blakberry users lie about their income. It’s a self inflated sense of importance. Have you ever noticed that those who use blackberrys are generally those who act more important than they usually are?
Die off? That’s harsh
MDN’s take took the thoughts right out of my mind.
First off, the wealthy (assuming that most of those surveyed use their phones for business) will usually not change business devices until they see the NEED. If blackberry is still widely enough used to eliminate the need for switching, then the wealthy (usually being the most cheap with money) won’t fork out any cash. Second, these margins are VERY narrow when comparing the length of existence for these platforms. Look at how long Blackberry has been in use. Businesses will SLOWLY catch on the advantages of the iPhone much like they SLOWLY caught on to the advantages of web-based payments and account management. Third, the MIDDLE-WAGE earners are always going to be the true test of how well a device is doing since we have enough money to spend (splurging once in a while) without worries of breaking the bank. Why weren’t we $50K -$75K earners accounted for? Fourth, lower-income earners should avoid purchasing any high-dollar items including food, clothing, cars, and housing, thus making their inclusion moot. Some of the article columnists are just idiots.
Even the rich like a BOGO deal.
The reason the very rich smartphone users have BlackBerry is probably that they started using smartphones soon after they were introduced (1999?) and just stayed with BlackBerry.
Android: a poor OS for the poor?