I read a fascinating report from Rubicon Consulting that talks about iPhone use. Facts from the report as published by the authors:
* iPhone users are very satisfied. The iPhone users we surveyed report very high levels of satisfaction with the product. They are using its features extensively. (Page 12.)
* E-mail is the #1 function. The most heavily used data function on the iPhone is reading (but not writing) e-mail. (Page 13.)
* The iPhone increases mobile browsing… More than 75% of iPhone users say it has led them to do more mobile browsing. (Page 14.)
* …but it has drawbacks. About 40% of iPhone users say the iPhone has trouble displaying some websites they want to visit. (Page 25.)
* The iPhone is expanding the smartphone market. About 50% of iPhones replaced conventional mobile phones, 40% replaced smartphones, and 10% replaced nothing. Among conventional phones, Motorola Razr was the phone most often replaced. Among smartphones, Windows Mobile and RIM Blackberry were most often replaced. (Page 19.)
* A third of iPhone users carry a second phone. There have been anecdotal reports of iPhone users carrying a second mobile phone, either for basic voice calling, or for other functions like composing e-mail. The survey confirmed those reports. (Page 20.)
* A quarter of iPhone users say it’s displacing a notebook computer. 28% of iPhone users surveyed said strongly that they often carry their iPhone instead of a notebook computer. (Page 22.)
* Users are young. About half of iPhone users are under age 30 (page 29) and about 15% are students (page 31).
* Apple sells to its installed base. At least 75% of US iPhone users are previous Apple customers — they used either iPods or Macintosh computers. (Page 28.)
* The iPhone increases phone bills. The iPhone has increased its users’ monthly mobile phone bills by an average of 24%, or $228 extra per year. (Page 17.)
* The iPhone leads people to change carriers. Almost half of iPhone users changed carriers when they got the iPhone. (Page 18.)
* AT&T’s gamble pays off. The iPhone has probably increased AT&T’s gross service revenue by about $2 billion per year. (Page 4.)
Bear in mind that this is a report drawn from US customers so EU results may be very different. However, in a recent Newsgang show, a couple of developers said the iPhone interface has set the bar for all other mobile phones and that at this moment in time, it is difficult to see how other vendors will be able to beat Apple out. To add a little spice there are predictions that iPhone sales could hit 45 million a year by 2009.
On the other hand, the iPhone is an expensive and captive option. I don’t see much corporate use of the iPhone but that’s not to say it won’t happen in the future. Today, Blackberry seems to be the popular corporate choice with sales running at around 12 million and far deeper integration to services business wants to use.
Instead, I see an alternative scenario where iPhone co-exists with other handsets such as Blackberry and Nokia, where users choose the device that best meets their needs for a particular task.
