The latest ChangeWave study looks at how likely wireless customers will switch carriers for the new Verizon iPhone. ChangeWave asked survey respondents how likely they were to change their wireless service provider in the next 90 days.
A total of 10% said they plan on switching providers - 2-pts higher
than a previous ChangeWave survey in September and the highest churn
level of the past 18 months.
There were major differences in the churn rates for the top wireless providers. Only 4% of Verizon's customers plan to switch in the next 90 days. In
comparison, 10% of Sprint/Nextel's customers say they plan to switch,
as do 15% of both T-Mobile's and AT&T's.
AT&T's churn rate is its worst ever in a ChangeWave survey. First, better than two-in-five likely switchers from AT&T cite Poor
Reception/Coverage (42%) as their top reason for leaving, followed by
Dropped Calls (27%).
Second, the weakening loyalty of AT&T wireless customers is
directly attributable to the upcoming release of a Verizon iPhone.
A total of 16% of AT&T subscribers say they'll switch to Verizon
once it begins offering the iPhone. Another 23% say they don't know if
they'll switch.
Importantly, current Apple iPhone owners are the most likely group of
all to switch, with more than one-in-four (26%) saying they'll leave
AT&T for Verizon.
Note that among all AT&T subscribers planning to switch,
two-in-five (41%) say they'll do it within the first three months of the
iPhone's release - and another 31% within the first year.
Despite the seemingly inevitable hemorrhaging of AT&T's subscriber
base, there was one bright spot for the wireless giant - a significant
improvement in its dropped call rating.
While AT&T continues to struggle in this very important area and
trails Verizon by a wide margin, it has made significant advances since
our previous survey - improving from its all-time worst 6% rating last
September to 4.7% in the current survey. The findings suggest that AT&T is now taking concrete steps to try to
improve long-standing service issues. But can it do this quickly enough to
forestall large-scale defections to Verizon?
Not according to our ChangeWave survey results. The Verizon iPhone is
causing a major transformational shift in the wireless industry, and
for now the momentum clearly favors Verizon.
To review the complete ChangeWave survey results, including the
heated competition for future market share among Verizon, AT&T,
Sprint/Nextel, and T-Mobile, follow the link below:
The complete ChangeWave report is available here.