iPhone could turn technology world on its ear, study shows
As of February, awareness of Apple Inc.'s iPhone device had spread to nearly 50 percent of U.S. consumers, with a significant chunk of those people expressing sincere interest in buying the device without having first seen one in person, a broad market survey has shown.
In order to determine just how strong the buzz around Apple's first mobile handset had grown, market research firm Harris Interactive in mid-February conducted a an online study with over 1,100 consumers from its multimillion member panel.
"Although iPhone is not yet a household word, 47 percent of respondents were aware of the product and a full 17 percent expressed interest in purchasing it, which makes for a pretty loud buzz from consumers for a product that isn't yet available," the firm said in reporting the results of the study on Thursday.
Perhaps one of the more interesting question asked of participants in the study was when they'd be willing to buy the Apple device. Of those expressing interest to purchase, 9 percent said they would buy the product during its initial launch and another 8 percent said they planned to pick one up before their current wireless service contract expired.
Another 17 percent claimed they would wait for their current wireless contract to expire before purchasing, which an additional 25 percent said would purchase it when their existing wireless carrier offers the iPhone. The remaining 40 percent or so said they'd be more comfortable purchasing the handset once its entry level $500 price tag came down.
Survey results showed the hottest iPhone feature was its large storage capacity with a 37 percent vote. That begs the question, said Harris, of whether the iPhone is better phone or simply a better iPod?
The next most desirable feature, according to the survey, was quad band worldwide capabilities with 36 percent vote. It was followed by the iPhone's "drop dead cool user interface" with 31 percent of the vote.
"Overall, high powered multi-functional mobile devices like the iPhone have strong appeal to about 31 percent of the marketplace," Harris wrote in its report. "The remainder does not need, or care to pay for, all those bells and whistles and seek simpler solutions."
The firm said it expects June to spur a "nice pop in iPhone sales" out of the gate and some additional subscribers lining up at AT&T/Cingular to switch their carrier and get their iPhone.
"Apple's new iPhone has shaken the industry to its core. Look for strong sales and a new cult to develop around iPhone," said Joseph Porus, Vice President of HarrisInteractive's Technology Practice. "Also expect increased orders for midnight oil as competitors scramble to play catch-up."
In order to determine just how strong the buzz around Apple's first mobile handset had grown, market research firm Harris Interactive in mid-February conducted a an online study with over 1,100 consumers from its multimillion member panel.
"Although iPhone is not yet a household word, 47 percent of respondents were aware of the product and a full 17 percent expressed interest in purchasing it, which makes for a pretty loud buzz from consumers for a product that isn't yet available," the firm said in reporting the results of the study on Thursday.
Perhaps one of the more interesting question asked of participants in the study was when they'd be willing to buy the Apple device. Of those expressing interest to purchase, 9 percent said they would buy the product during its initial launch and another 8 percent said they planned to pick one up before their current wireless service contract expired.
Another 17 percent claimed they would wait for their current wireless contract to expire before purchasing, which an additional 25 percent said would purchase it when their existing wireless carrier offers the iPhone. The remaining 40 percent or so said they'd be more comfortable purchasing the handset once its entry level $500 price tag came down.
Survey results showed the hottest iPhone feature was its large storage capacity with a 37 percent vote. That begs the question, said Harris, of whether the iPhone is better phone or simply a better iPod?
The next most desirable feature, according to the survey, was quad band worldwide capabilities with 36 percent vote. It was followed by the iPhone's "drop dead cool user interface" with 31 percent of the vote.
"Overall, high powered multi-functional mobile devices like the iPhone have strong appeal to about 31 percent of the marketplace," Harris wrote in its report. "The remainder does not need, or care to pay for, all those bells and whistles and seek simpler solutions."
The firm said it expects June to spur a "nice pop in iPhone sales" out of the gate and some additional subscribers lining up at AT&T/Cingular to switch their carrier and get their iPhone.
"Apple's new iPhone has shaken the industry to its core. Look for strong sales and a new cult to develop around iPhone," said Joseph Porus, Vice President of HarrisInteractive's Technology Practice. "Also expect increased orders for midnight oil as competitors scramble to play catch-up."
Comments
I will be getting the iphone for me, my wife and my daughter as soon as it is available.
So there's 3.
Apple, you have got to be absolutely crazy if you think I'm going to leave behind Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, Vindigo, Dir Asst, SOHO Notes' Palm synchronization conduit, and all of my games -- all of which run beautifully on my Treo 650 and sync perfectly with my Mac.
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
A real smartphone is the Treo.
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
And does email, and browses the Web, and gets stocks and weather, and does maps and directions, and takes pictures, and gives slideshows, and runs TV shows and movies, and manages calendars and notes and contacts, and does visual voicemail, and plays games, and is expandable with more apps in future, and does it all more easily than anything before it, and has far more storage, a bigger screen, and a thinner form factor than most "smartphones"....
Apple's not crazy--they won't ask you to leave the suite of Treo apps you already rely on. They'll sell to customers like me who don't need those particular apps.
Sorry Apple, you won't be making a PENNY from me until you allow 3rd-party applications on the iPhone.
[...], FileMaker Pro, [...]
And that wouldn't even be a third-party app...
Sorry Apple, you won't be making a PENNY from me until you allow 3rd-party applications on the iPhone.
Apple, you have got to be absolutely crazy if you think I'm going to leave behind Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, Vindigo, Dir Asst, SOHO Notes' Palm synchronization conduit, and all of my games -- all of which run beautifully on my Treo 650 and sync perfectly with my Mac.
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
A real smartphone is the Treo.
Then stick with your Treo. (That was easy.)
The key app for me is a full browser so that I can trade on line.
Verizon and Sprint have the best coverage in this area - it won't matter much to those people who don't have yards but if you live 10 miles west of Boston, forget Cingular... it is terrible.
first of all, who hired harris to do this project? apple? the competition? you can word any questionaire to get the answers you want, to a high degree. common sense tells me that THAT amount of people willing to buy a product sight unseen is NOT realistic at all.
This isn't a "realistic" product though, I was designed using advanced alien technologies
Sorry Apple, you won't be making a PENNY from me until you allow 3rd-party applications on the iPhone.
Apple, you have got to be absolutely crazy if you think I'm going to leave behind Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, Vindigo, Dir Asst, SOHO Notes' Palm synchronization conduit, and all of my games -- all of which run beautifully on my Treo 650 and sync perfectly with my Mac.
scotty321, you have got to be absolutely crazy if you think Apple is going to leave 3rd party apps. At WWDC we will hear all about how developers can write apps, Apple will approve them and Apple will sell them through the iTunes store.
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
A real smartphone is the Treo.
Made by real smart folks like Ed Culligan and the folks at Palm.
They have been making real smart moves like selling off their software division.
Oh you mean Palm who has been promising a Linux based platform for 4 years now.
Sorry, but you are on a sinking ship and Ed is simply rearranging the deck chairs.
Sorry Apple, you won't be making a PENNY from me until you allow 3rd-party applications on the iPhone.
Apple, you have got to be absolutely crazy if you think I'm going to leave behind Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, Vindigo, Dir Asst, SOHO Notes' Palm synchronization conduit, and all of my games -- all of which run beautifully on my Treo 650 and sync perfectly with my Mac.
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
A real smartphone is the Treo.
FileMaker is not a third-party app. So perhap it has a chance.
I think that you should relax. As the Treo is not for everybody neither is the iPhone. As far as I know, the iPhone is not or has never been catagorized by Apple as a 'smart phone'. And, "it's not a phone that plays music," as you so profondly proclaim!
And yes, you are absolutely correct when you say that Apple has "got to be absolutely crazy" if you don't get your way. So you are not totally wrong.
P.S. I too have a Treo which I can't wait to replace.
Apple, you have got to be absolutely crazy if you think I'm going to leave behind Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, Vindigo, Dir Asst, SOHO Notes' Palm synchronization conduit, and all of my games.
Gee. It sounds like you need a laptop really bad.
SOHO Notes' Palm synchronization conduit...
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
I don't foresee SOHO Notes' Pam sync conduit being ported to the iPhone.
You do realize that the term "smartphone" is nothing more than a marketing term. The way Apple coined "PC" and then later shied away from it in order to differentiate the Mac from all the IBM clones. For the same reason, Apple will never call the iPhone a smartphone. Apple coined the term and initialism "PDA" to describe the Newton but will never again use that it to describe it's own products despite it clearly being a personal digital/data assistant.
I think Java widgets are going to abundant through the iTunes Store. Common ones like Flight Tracker, World Clock, Business and People will be free and other, more complex widgets will be had at a fee.
...all of which run beautifully on my Treo 650 and sync perfectly with my Mac.
The iPhone isn't a smartphone. It's a phone that plays music.
A real smartphone is the Treo.
Last time I sync'ed my Palm with my Mac, all my Asian contacts get garbled up because PalmOS doesn't support Unicode. Sync'ing contacts is a very basic functionality, and it didn't work.
I'm aware there are 3rd-party tools to remedy this problem, but I'd rather not go that route and make my digital life even more complicated. Too bad, because I really liked Palm before I ran into this problem.
Is it really so smart? Really?
Put me in this group.. Have been a customer of AT$T and Cingusuck in the past, and have no intention of EVER going back.. Would rather not have a cell phone than deal w/ those a$$holes...
Very happy with my T-Mobile service (using a Pearl now) .. Relatively affordable data service (unlimited) for email and tethering.. (tethering ... a feature the 1st gen iPhone seems to lack btw... another reason I will be waiting.)
I use my phones for years, and then hand them down to my relatives... Hell, my mom is still using my old Moto p280... My dad will prob. inherit the Pearl when the 2nd or 3rd gen iPhones support tethering and will work w/ my T-Mobile acct... Given how much use my phones get, and how much they usually cost (all my Motos have been unlocked models bought from suppliers other than cell phone companies) the iPhone price is ok for me..
Sigh... See you in 3 years(?) iPhone...
jwd
Sigh... See you in 3 years(?) iPhone...
jwd
How about 5 years? From everything I've read, that is most likely the contract length.
Why do people put their signature/initials at the end of posts when your name is off to the left of the post?
My contract is up with Verizon at the end of May... I've had nothing but bad service from them.
To judge by the comments I read on the internet, AT&T (Cingular) may be no better than Verizon. But there's absolutely no question that Verizon's customer service (not to mention the performance of their network in the San Francisco Bay Area) is really awful.
I want an iPhone on day one, and so I'm thinking what the best way might be to assure that. Run down to the Apple store? Advance order from Apple? From Cingular? Attandance at WWDC? Apple Developer Hardware program? Any ideas?
From what it seems the iPhone may not ship until later June, so you should probably just go on the Apple site, refreshing constantly, and pre-order it as soon as Steve Jobs announces you can.