A report released by Rockville, Md.-based ChangeWave Research on customers of the top two smart phones identifies what they like and don’t like about Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.
The results echo commonly accepted notions about the strengths and weaknesses of the rival communication devices, but also illustrate how a few changes to the iPhone – several of which are expected in June -- could make it far more attractive to many more customers.
The iPhone enjoys an edge in Web browsing, with its customized version of Mac OS X’s Safari. Instead of “application problems,” iPhone users complained their device “doesn’t support third party software” -- but again, Apple has targeted that issue with the impending release of the iPhone Software Development Kit.
The dissatisfaction with the BlackBerry’s keypad surprised me a little, as numerous critics have claimed the iPhone’s touch screen keyboard is harder to use. Yet 27 percent of iPhone users cited the touch screen interface as their favorite feature.
Not surprisingly, even more iPhone owners (36 percent) preferred its “integration of phone, iPod and Internet browser” functions in a single device. Those two features comprise the essence of the iPhone’s appeal.
The iPhone dislikes chart similarly contains no major surprises. The top two items involve AT&T, Apple’s designated cellular provider in the U.S. One in five iPhone owners (21 percent) said their biggest gripe is the slow speed of AT&T’s EDGE network, and nearly as many (17 percent) objected to the requirement to use AT&T.
If recent conjectures on the June arrival of a 3G iPhone prove true, Apple soon will have an alternative for those dissatisfied with AT&T’s network speed.
Citigroup analysts Richard Gardner and Yeechang Lee predicted in a research note last week that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will introduce the 3G iPhone in an as-yet-unannounced keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference (June 9-13).
A 3G capability was the feature most cited by iPhone users (19 percent) in the ChangeWave survey when asked which new feature they’d like to see. Third party software (18 percent) followed close behind along with GPS (15 percent).
Talk about giving the people what they want. A 3G iPhone married to the iPhone 2.0 software will satisfy several customer desires in one swoop.
Only two significant impediments to iPhone sales appeared in the ChangeWave survey: price and the AT&T requirement.
Of those surveyed that said they planned to buy an iPhone but had not yet done so, 24 percent said they were waiting for the price to drop. Almost as many (22 percent) said they were waiting for the iPhone to become available on other service providers.
