46% of smartphone buyers prefer Apple's iOS, 32% choose Google Android

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Among consumers who plan to buy a smartphone in the next three months, the iPhone is the top choice, with nearly half of all prospective buyers choosing Apple.



The data comes from the latest survey from ChangeWave Research via a poll it conducted of 4,163 consumers in June. The survey focused primarily on the smartphone market in North America, with 89 percent of respondents being from the U.S. and 11 percent outside of America.



The survey found that 46 percent of consumers who plan to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days prefer a device running Apple's iOS, which powers the iPhone. That's up 2 points from a poll done in March.



In second place in the latest survey was Google Android, which 32 percent of planned smartphone buyers said they will choose. Google's share also increased since March, growing by one percentage point.



The gains of Apple and Google came at the expense of rivals, as Research in Motion's BlackBerry line lost one point since March. The BlackBerry's 4 percent share is the lowest level ever seen in a ChangeWave survey, and is far away from its high of 32 percent in September of 2008.



The data showing consumer preferences for the iPhone aligns with previous polls that have told a similar story. Last November, ChangeWave reported that 34 percent of non-AT&T smartphone buyers said they wished they could buy Apple's iPhone. At the time, the iPhone was exclusive to AT&T.







The latest survey also tracked the potential impact of Apple's iCloud service, and found it will increase the value proposition of devices like the iPhone. Among current Apple product owners, 29 percent said iCloud will make them "more likely" to buy Apple products in the future, while the same was said by 13 percent of non-Apple product owners.



"This initial look at the impact of Apple's new iCloud service shows it enhancing customer loyalty," the report said. "But the survey also provides highly encouraging signs that iCloud will generate additional customer demand for other Apple products, not only from current Apple product owners but from a substantial number of non-owners as well."



The latest survey also reaffirmed that the iPhone carries the highest satisfaction rate in the industry. When asked about the operating system on their mobile device, 70 percent of users said they are "very satisfied" with iOS, while 50 percent said the same of Google. Just 26 percent said they were satisfied with RIM's BlackBerry OS.







In what was characterized as an "encouraging sign" for Apple's rival Microsoft, the survey found that 57 percent of respondents running Windows Phone 7 said they are "very satisfied." That total is significantly better than the paltry 14 percent rating the previous-generation Windows Mobile OS earned.



"Even so, the higher Windows Phone 7 rating has yet to produce a sustained momentum boost for Microsoft in terms of buyer preferences," the report said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 69
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    These numbers are great, but unconvincing. The problem is that Apple has not had sales figures that match up against these intentions from what we've seen from Nielsen. Look at the 50% for June-10. If you actually look at Nielsen's sales numbers for the 90 days after June-10, Apple never even got close to 50% of the smartphone market - in fact they never even passed Android for those 3 months.



    Unfortunately I'd have to conclude that this survey has either a significant sample bias, or some sort of methodological problem with its questions.
  • Reply 2 of 69
    istudistud Posts: 193member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    These numbers are great, but unconvincing. The problem is that Apple has not had sales figures that match up against these intentions from what we've seen from Nielsen. Look at the 50% for June-10. If you actually look at Nielsen's sales numbers for the 90 days after June-10, Apple never even got close to 50% of the smartphone market - in fact they never even passed Android for those 3 months.



    Unfortunately I'd have to conclude that this survey has either a significant sample bias, or some sort of methodological problem with its questions.



    But the only data point you pick happens to be the one that does not follow the trend! That is the one that is obviously biased. All the other points seem to follow a credible trend.
  • Reply 3 of 69
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    These numbers are great, but unconvincing. The problem is that Apple has not had sales figures that match up against these intentions from what we've seen from Nielsen. Look at the 50% for June-10. If you actually look at Nielsen's sales numbers for the 90 days after June-10, Apple never even got close to 50% of the smartphone market - in fact they never even passed Android for those 3 months.



    Unfortunately I'd have to conclude that this survey has either a significant sample bias, or some sort of methodological problem with its questions.



    The methodology is certainly questionable. For example, what's up with the 11% non-Americans? Either you sample only US or only Europe or only Asia, or you make an effort to sample a representative mix. To me, 89+11 is a nonsensical, misleading mixture.



    When it comes to future buying trends, consumer polls are often off. This surprises me because election polls are often very good indicators of the outcome.
  • Reply 4 of 69
    davemcm76davemcm76 Posts: 268member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    These numbers are great, but unconvincing. The problem is that Apple has not had sales figures that match up against these intentions from what we've seen from Nielsen. Look at the 50% for June-10. If you actually look at Nielsen's sales numbers for the 90 days after June-10, Apple never even got close to 50% of the smartphone market - in fact they never even passed Android for those 3 months.



    Unfortunately I'd have to conclude that this survey has either a significant sample bias, or some sort of methodological problem with its questions.



    This survey is all about OS preference which may not be at all related to what people actually buy... 46% may well prefer iOS but then go on to buy Android or some other phone due to a factor beyond the OS - my guess would be price is a key here...



    If I had to express a preference between a Ferrari or a Ford I'd choose Ferrari.... doesn't mean I'm ever likely to buy one...
  • Reply 5 of 69
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iStud View Post


    But the only data point you pick happens to be the one that does not follow the trend! That is the one that is obviously biased. All the other points seem to follow a credible trend.



    What other points follow a credible trend? The only meaningful trend that I can see is what people are actually buying. On that, the surveys have been consistently off. But maybe I missed something you spotted?
  • Reply 6 of 69
    lorrelorre Posts: 396member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    These numbers are great, but unconvincing. The problem is that Apple has not had sales figures that match up against these intentions from what we've seen from Nielsen. Look at the 50% for June-10. If you actually look at Nielsen's sales numbers for the 90 days after June-10, Apple never even got close to 50% of the smartphone market - in fact they never even passed Android for those 3 months.



    Unfortunately I'd have to conclude that this survey has either a significant sample bias, or some sort of methodological problem with its questions.



    Well, these kind of numbers are always completely biased. Customer interest surveys never work. Why? Because they only measure the buying intents of people that can actually be bothered to participate in these kinds of surveys.

    - This is only a small subset of the entire consumer population

    - It's very likely that "what you want to buy" and "wether or not you participate in these surveys" are not completely independent variables. So these surveys will never be representative for the entire possible customer pool.



    I only had very basic statistics courses in school, but enough to know that most statistics don't mean anything.
  • Reply 7 of 69
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,402member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    These numbers are great, but unconvincing. The problem is that Apple has not had sales figures that match up against these intentions from what we've seen from Nielsen. Look at the 50% for June-10. If you actually look at Nielsen's sales numbers for the 90 days after June-10, Apple never even got close to 50% of the smartphone market - in fact they never even passed Android for those 3 months.



    Unfortunately I'd have to conclude that this survey has either a significant sample bias, or some sort of methodological problem with its questions.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stelligent View Post


    The methodology is certainly questionable. For example, what's up with the 11% non-Americans? Either you sample only US or only Europe or only Asia, or you make an effort to sample a representative mix. To me, 89+11 is a nonsensical, misleading mixture.



    When it comes to future buying trends, consumer polls are often off. This surprises me because election polls are often very good indicators of the outcome.



    Does either of you know how Nielsen comes up with its numbers?
  • Reply 8 of 69
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    It is obvious that only Wintards are buying windows 7 phones as this company is now irrelevant in the mobile market but the clowns using them haven't figured it out yet.
  • Reply 9 of 69
    rufworkrufwork Posts: 130member
    I'm more confused with the idea of which OS folks prefer. Can you really survey OS preference, or are they really measuring which platform (phone + OS) people plan to buy?



    That is, I greatly prefer iOS, but with Virgin Mobile's all the data you want for $25/month, I went with an Android phone. Do I count as a customer who prefers iOS or Android for the purposes of this survey?



    Seems the way the questions were framed (if this story represents them accurately), you could easily think you're answering either of those questions -- better OS or which platform you're buying -- while going through the survey, which kills its accuracy a bit.
  • Reply 10 of 69
    chrispoechrispoe Posts: 80member
    Good thing you got the $25 virgin mobile plan when you did, new costumers as of 7/20 will have to pay $35 for that plan.
  • Reply 11 of 69
    chabigchabig Posts: 641member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    the survey found that 57 percent of respondents running Windows Phone 7 said they are "very satisfied."



    The chart says 27% of WinPhone buyers are "very satisfied", not 57%. Something is very fishy.
  • Reply 12 of 69
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    This flies in the face of a previous AI article:http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...for_apple.html



    So, people are not actually doing what this survey suggests they should. I think cloudgazer is correct, there is probably some inherent bias in the survey.



    I can also see a lot of people saying one thing in answer to a survey then changing their minds when they actually come to pay for a device and find out how over priced an IP4 is. With my provider, a Samsung Galaxy S II is ?470 and a IP4 is ?589. The SGSII is quite obviously much better value. Then if you look downmarket a bit, the cheapest iOS offering is an iPhone 3GS 8GB Black at ?469 while you could get a Samsung S5570 Galaxy Mini for ?120.



    I know in the local high school Android phones are propagating like wildfire while iOS devices are present in single digits.
  • Reply 13 of 69
    It's simple, Android will eventually swarm over the iphone. It's already happening, having 50 Android phones in every cell store in the USA quickly overshadows the two iphones sitting in the corner. Walk into any Verizon store and you will see how huge android is compared to the iphone.



    Iphone isn't dead, but it will be segmented to a smaller and smaller share of the market ... eventually. Unless they get the iphone on every USA carrier FAST.
  • Reply 14 of 69
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member
    I own a 3GS, my wife has an iPhone 4, and we also own a Mac Mini (hers) and an Apple TV. My wife plans to use her yearly AT&T upgrade to get the iPhone 5 and we do plan on getting another Mac Mini to replace my aging gaming PC (which is now nothing more than loud )



    So we are definitely an Apple family. Nonetheless, for my upgrade I decided to go with the Samsung Focus, a Windows 7 Phone. The phone's build quality doesn't quite match the level of my 3GS and it doesn't come close to my wife's iPhone 4. It is not bad, but not great build quality. I have it in a case and have no worries, just as I did with my 3GS.



    The Windows Phone OS really has got my attention. Fantastic OS. Smooth and Silky OS. Better than iOS 4? IMHO, yes! iOS 4 is getting long in the toogh. Better than iOS 5? No idea yet. Probably on equal terms. Both are so much better than Android for ease of use.!



    I will use my (soon to be) my iPhone 4 as a glorified iPod Touch/Skype Phone and remote for our Apple TV and sell the 3GS soon.



    So I guess this puts me in the 6% of the Market that doesn't have iOS, Android or a RIM phone. It is unfortunate that so many folks have Android and don't even consider the Windows Phone just out of ignorance or perhaps their decision not to buy is based on FDU.

    I know many folks will bash the Windows Phone (many Apple fanatics are just haters of anything non-Apple at heart) but the Windows Phone OS (they need a shorter name) really is much better than Android for all-around use.



    So has anybody actually given the Windows Phone OS a chance without dismissing it based on the fact it is a MS product?
  • Reply 15 of 69
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FreeRange View Post


    It is obvious that only Wintards are buying windows 7 phones as this company is now irrelevant in the mobile market but the clowns using them haven't figured it out yet.



    I guess you have already answered my question. Typical attitude I had hoped not to see, but not surprising. So many Apple and Windows fanatics are so close-minded.
  • Reply 16 of 69
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chrispoe View Post


    Good thing you got the $25 virgin mobile plan when you did, new costumers as of 7/20 will have to pay $35 for that plan.



    Are they going to grandfather those who already have a plan?
  • Reply 17 of 69
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    So has anybody actually given the Windows Phone OS a chance without dismissing it based on the fact it is a MS product?



    For me, yes. I am curious to see it and play with Windows Phone 7. But but have no interest in helping MS take over another market and stifle innovation as it historically does.



    I am thrilled MS missed the cellular boat and hope to see MS fail in ever achieving much market share. Fact is, whenever MS gets a monopoly they use that to insert customization that protect their market share rather than continue to innovate.
  • Reply 18 of 69
    chrispoechrispoe Posts: 80member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    Are they going to grandfather those who already have a plan?



    Yes, as long as you don't change plans or let your account expire, so you can still upgrade phones and keep the $25 plan too.
  • Reply 19 of 69
    dreyfus2dreyfus2 Posts: 1,072member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chabig View Post


    The chart says 27% of WinPhone buyers are "very satisfied", not 57%. Something is very fishy.



    Nothing is fishy. The 27% are for "Windows OS", the 57% are for "Windows Phone 7" only. As the article states that the satisfaction rating for "Windows Mobile" was only 14%, it only takes some rule of three and you can determine the mix (should be around 70% Windows Mobile and 30% Windows Phone 7 sales). Now, if these numbers are true... no idea.
  • Reply 20 of 69
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    I care a lot more that Apple doesn't kowtow to the wireless companies than specific usability differences between iOS and Android.



    I have a Sprint EVO through work and, annoying as Android is, the biggest pain in the arse is that Sprint insists on loading a bunch of undeleteable apps like Sprint TV that I would never use (and with built-in ads for channels I would never watch).



    I find that far more annoying than the fact that the Android UI was designed by a bunch of kids incapable of cooking their own meals or doing their own laundry.
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