New Smart Phone Owners Tell Us What They Really Think

By Paul Carton and Jean Crumrine
May 25, 2010

The smart phone market has consistently shown explosive growth in our 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, we 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. The survey was conducted April 21 - May 2.

Customer Satisfaction Ratings

First, we 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 our 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.

Motorola comes in a strong second, with a highly respectable 64% of its new smart phone owners saying they’re Very Satisfied – well above the industry average for recent purchasers.

In comparison, half of recent HTC buyers (51%) report they’re Very Satisfied with their smart phone, as do 46% of recent RIM buyers. 

Satisfaction Ratings By Model. Not surprisingly, the Very Satisfied ratings for the newest iPhone 3GS models – the 32GB 3GS (81%) and the 16GB 3GS (77%) – are higher than that of the older iPhone 3G (69%).

The ratings also show the Droid is driving Motorola’s impressive overall satisfaction levels. Better than two-thirds (69%) of Droid purchasers report they’re Very Satisfied with their new smart phone compared with 50% for all other Motorola models.

A similar 68% of HTC Hero buyers report they’re Very Satisfied with their new smart phone – considerably ahead of the HTC Droid Eris (50%) and the HTC Touch (38%).

We note that this survey was in the field when the HTC Droid Incredible went on sale (April 29) so the results do not contain customer satisfaction ratings for this latest HTC offering.  We will be conducting a follow-up survey of new HTC Incredible owners in the coming weeks to find out just how well this new smart phone is performing.

While the RIM Tour (56%) received the highest Very Satisfied rating among BlackBerry models – beating out the Bold (48%) and the Storm (45%) – it nonetheless ranked below the top-rated models of the other three competitors.

Key Likes and Dislikes

We also queried recent buyers on the specific features they like best and dislike most about their new smart phones.

Key Likes. Applications (14%) ranked as the top thing new owners liked best. Ease of Use (12%) and Internet Access (12%) were tied for second, with three other features tied for third – Integration Capabilities (10%), Email (10%) and General Functionality (10%).

There are some interesting differences between the individual manufacturers. Here are the top three things new owners like best for each:

Apple: Applications (24%), Ease of Use (20%), Internet Access (11%)
Motorola: Applications (18%), Internet Access (17%), GPS/Maps (9%)
HTC: Screen (23%), Integration Capabilities (15%), Applications (14%)
RIM: Email (31%), General Functionality (11%), Screen (9%)

Key Dislikes. Battery Life (12%) is the top dislike among recent purchasers, followed by Screen (10%), Keyboard (8%) and Service Provider (8%).

Here’s the dislikes breakout for those same four major manufacturers.

Apple: Service Provider (22%), Battery Life (19%), Lack of Multitasking (11%)
Motorola: Battery Life (14%), Screen (13%), General Functionality (13%)
HTC: Operating System (12%), Screen (10%), Battery Life (10%)
RIM: Keyboard (17%), Screen (15%), Complexity (8%)

Most Important Reasons Respondents Chose Their New Smart Phone

We also asked consumers who purchased a new smart phone within the past six months to tell us why they chose their particular model. Here’s a look at the top three reasons broken out for each of these four major manufacturers:

Apple: Applications (17%), Features/Functionality (16%), Ease of Use/Reliability (15%)
Motorola: Verizon Carrier (39%), Features/Functionality (12%), Android OS (12%)
HTC: Features/Functionality (17%), Windows Compatibility (16%), Android OS (13%)
RIM/BlackBerry: Company Provided Phone (24%), Email (15%), Price/Deals (11%)

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, we 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.

A closer look at the results for specific manufacturers, shows new Palm smart phone purchasers are more likely to say they’d have bought the Apple iPhone if it had been available from their service provider (46% Apple iPhone vs. 36% My New Smart Phone).

Likewise, 40% of new Motorola smart phone buyers say they’d have purchased the Apple iPhone, versus 31% who would have purchased their current Motorola phone. (For complete results see pp. 19-20)

Smart Phone Operating Systems

Recent ChangeWave consumer smart phone surveys have shown the transformational impact the Google (GOOG) Android mobile OS is having on the smart phone market. One of the central reasons for the surge in Android demand becomes clear when comparing the OS satisfaction ratings of recent smart phone buyers.

While the Apple OS (71% Very Satisfied) ranks highest, the Google Android OS comes in just behind, with two-thirds (67%) of new owners of Google OS phones reporting that they’re Very Satisfied with their mobile operating system (and another 29% Somewhat Satisfied).

Palm’s Web OS (57% Very Satisfied) ranks third. The satisfaction level for the RIM OS (37% Very Satisfied) came in well behind the three industry leaders, but ahead of Windows Mobile (24% Very Satisfied).