ChangeWave Research surveyed 1,212 consumers who had purchased smartphones within the past six months to rate their satisfaction of their model, including the iPhone 4, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, BlackBerry Torch and Samsung Galaxy S.
The Apple iPhone continues to outperform the industry in terms of customer satisfaction - with better than three-in-four new iPhone owners (77%) reporting that they're Very Satisfied with their new model.
The surprise finding is Motorola's exceptionally strong second-place showing, with 71% of new Motorola smartphone owners saying that they're Very Satisfied with their purchase - 8-pts ahead of third place HTC (63%).
Lagging behind these three smartphone leaders, we find the Very Satisfied ratings for Samsung (45%) and Research in Motion (44%). But it's important to remember that both companies just recently released their newest models (e.g., the Samsung Galaxy S line and the RIM BlackBerry Torch), and they're only partially reflected in the overall satisfaction ratings.
Here is a further breakdown of the satisfaction ratings for individual models from these smartphone manufacturers.
Apple iPhone 4.
The iPhone 4's exceptionally high Very Satisfied rating (84% for 32GB; 78% for 16GB), confirms our earlier survey findings that, despite the controversy surrounding its initial launch, the iPhone 4 has been extraordinarily well received by its owners. The iPhone 4 scores are even better than the ratings for the earlier generation iPhone 3GS models, (81% for 32GB and 77% for 16GB), which were recorded in the May 2010 new smartphone owners survey.
Motorola Droid 2 and Droid X.
The Droid 2 - Motorola's latest release in its Android lineup of smartphones - also received an exceptionally high Very Satisfied rating (74%), as did the Droid X (71%), which was released one month earlier. Both models have exceeded the satisfaction rating for the original Droid, (69%), recorded in the May 2010 ChangeWave survey.
HTC EVO 4G and Droid Incredible.
A huge player in the Android smartphone market, HTC released its latest models last spring, but they continue to outperform - with the EVO 4G registering a 76% Very Satisfied rating and the Droid Incredible 70%. Both remain among the top-rated smartphones in the industry and well ahead of the rating for other HTC phones (45%).
Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry Torch.
In an encouraging sign for RIM, their latest new model - the BlackBerry Torch - received a 64% Very Satisfied rating, significantly higher than the Bold (48%), Curve (40%) and other BlackBerry RIM models (37%). The high Very Satisfied rating for the Torch is a breakthrough for the Canadian smartphone manufacturer - who has lagged in customer satisfaction for the past two years of ChangeWave surveys - but it still ranks below the top-rated models of Apple, Motorola and HTC.
Samsung Galaxy S.
Better than half (55%) of the purchasers of Samsung Galaxy S smartphones report that they're Very Satisfied with their new models, as compared with just 28% for all other Samsung models.
iPhone vs. the Competition.
With the rumors and speculation continuing about the imminent release of a new Verizon iPhone, what impact would such a move have on the smartphone market?
ChangeWave asked non-AT&T respondents whether they would have still purchased their new smartphone if the iPhone had been available at their wireless service provider at the time of purchase. The results show the continuing threat that the iPhone poses to the rest of the industry.
- Note that 20% reported that they 'Don't Know' which phone they would have purchased.
In short, an extraordinary one-in-three non-AT&T smartphone buyers (34%), say they would have bought the iPhone instead - if it had been available at their service provider.
A closer look at the results, by specific manufacturer, shows that new Motorola smartphone purchasers are likeliest to say they would have bought the Apple iPhone (37%), if it had been available from their service provider.
The ChangeWave survey was completed November 2, 2010.