45% Want an iPhone, While 47% Said Still Too Expensive at $199

More People Would Participate in Mobile Market Research if No Charge Incurred
When Apple® launched its new iPhone 3G in July, the marketing push leading up to that weekend extravaganza was huge. Apple claims to have sold 1 million of the new devices in its first weekend on the market, with 10 million downloads from the iPhone/iTouch store during the same period.

Greenfield Online surveyed approximately 1,000 respondents via our U.S. omnibus find out how they felt about the iPhone and other smart phone devices in anticipation of this launch. In addition, we wanted to know whether having a smart phone device would change the way respondents felt about taking surveys on their mobile device. The results were interesting.

What Kind of Phone?
Among those surveyed, 84%, or 920 respondents, already own some type of mobile device. Of those who have a mobile phone, 57% have a basic phone with no web capabilities. Three percent (3%) of respondents already own an Apple iPhone. Another three percent (3%) own the Motorola Q9M offered by Verizon Wireless. Two percent (2%) use a Blackberry Curve. Twenty-nine percent (29%) said they use some other un-named device, including a standard Blackberry from AT&T or a Samsung Instinct from Sprint.

For What Purpose Are People Primarily Using Their Phones?
It should as no surprise that 86% of total respondents primarily use their phones to talk to other people via voice conversation. Interestingly, only 10% of total respondents claimed to use their phones primarily for text-based conversations. This percentage was highest among 18-24 year olds, where it jumped to 31% and where this age group’s use of the phone for voice conversations dropped to just 63%.
Interestingly, unmarried people text more (16%) than married people (7%). However, as a parent who texts with my teenagers, I was not surprised to learn that, married people with children text more (12%) than married people that don’t have children (9%).

Only 2% of respondents surveyed access the web from their mobile device. An even smaller percentage of those surveyed (1%), read their email via their mobile device. Only 4 respondents (less than 1%) have ever played games via their mobile device.

Mobile Market Research and Smart Phones
A whopping 92% of respondents said they had never participated in a survey via their mobile device. When asked why, the three biggest reasons for non-participation were:

• 39% said they did not want to incur the charge for the message
• 26% said they had never been invited or signed up to participate
• 20% said they worried that if they participated, their phone would begin to receive unwanted advertisements.

We asked respondents if they would be more or less likely to participate in a short mobile survey if they had a Smart Phone mobile device.

• 21% said they would be more likely to participate
• 6% said less likely to participate, and
• 74% said they would still prefer to participate in marketing research surveys via their personal computer.

We then asked respondents to rank what would encourage them to take surveys via their mobile device. The following are listed in the rank order of most important to least important options. Interestingly, owning a Smart Phone ranked as least important among the choices to encourage mobile phone survey participation.

   # 1 If taking surveys via my mobile device did not result in a message           charge to my phone.
   # 2 If there were a more attractive incentive.
   # 3 If the surveys were 10 questions or less.
   # 4 if the surveys were 5 questions or less.
   # 5 if I had the ability to respond to the survey via a touch screen phone.

The Rush to the iPhone
We ran this survey the week the iPhone 3G was introduced to get an idea for how many participants were going to run out to get one. We asked respondents who did own a Smart Phone today, what was the likelihood that they would upgrade to one within the next six months.

Sixty-one percent (61%) said they are unlikely (18%) or highly unlikely (43%) to upgrade their phone within the next six months. Nineteen percent (19%) said they were likely (10%) or highly likely (9%) to do so. Only 1% or 5 respondents said they were going to run out and buy one that week – the week of the iPhone 3G introduction.

However, of those (20%) who said they were likely to upgrade their phone in the near future, forty-five percent (45%) said they would purchase a new Apple iPhone 3G.

Among the fifty five percent (55%) who are not interested in the iPhone, here’s why (answers were not mutually exclusive):

• 46% said their carrier does not offer the iPhone
• 29% said they do not subscribe to AT%T
• 22% said they don’t like the iPhone device
• 47% also said it is still to expensive at $199