BlackBerry smartphone owners are thinking of switching to either iPhone or Android notes a new study from Crowd Science. Android users are almost as loyal as iPhone owners.
Nearly 40% of Blackberry users continue to prefer an iPhone as their next smartphone purchase, but a third of them would also switch to the Android operating system, according to the second smartphone brand loyalty survey conducted semi-annually via Crowd Science. The Crowd Scientists also found Android users rivaling iPhone users in loyalty, with about 90% of each user group planning to stick with their current brand when buying their next phone.
Asked specifically if they'd swap their present phone for the Nexus One, 32% of Blackberry users said "yes," compared with just 9% of iPhone users. This figure zoomed to 60% for users of smartphones not made by Blackberry or Apple.
Other survey results include:
- Android users skew younger and less affluent than iPhone and
Blackberry users. - Users of all types of smartphones had downloaded more free
applications than paid ones during the preceding seven days, with iPhone
users significantly more likely to pay for apps, Android users leading
in free apps, and Blackbery users far behind on both fronts. - Both Android users and iPhone users were found much more likely than
Blackberry users to use their phones only for personal use (32%, 28%
and 16% respectively). - On the other hand, 7% of Blackberry users use their phone only for
business, with that category of user minimal with iPhone (1%) and
non-existent in the Android base.
Crowd Science's methodology applies rigorous sampling and research techniques to online populations, allowing for real-time results. Indeed, a significant event affecting the research - the debut of Nexus One on January 5 - occurred midway through the Dec. 24. 2009 to Jan. 21, 2010 study period. Rather than being a disruptive factor, however, the Crowd Scientists were able to measure how the launch affected the attitudes of respondents. For example, awareness of the Android operating system jumped six points - to 66% from 60%. Moving from awareness to familiarity, however, results were stable throughout the research period - at about 10% for all smartphone users excluding Android owners.
Awareness of the Google Nexus One phone itself following launch was found to be 91% amongst iPhone users, 75% amongst Blackberry users, and 73% amongst users of other smartphones.