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Wed, 24 Dec 2008 iPhone trounces BlackBerry Storm in satisfaction rating

77 per cent of iPhone owners "very satisfied" with Apple's phone

Gregg Keizer Computerworld

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First reactions from buyers of Research in Motion newest BlackBerry Storm smart phone have been "lukewarm," and nowhere near the satisfaction ratings of Apple’s iPhone , a market research analyst said on Tuesday.

"It's not that the BlackBerry Storm is a bad phone," said Paul Carton , research director at ChangeWave Research Research. "It's just that the initial launch has glitches which have resulted in a mediocre satisfaction rating, while consumers are already trained to expect the very highest standards from their BlackBerries."

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In its most recent consumer smart-phone survey, ChangeWave found that the Storm's satisfaction rating was more akin to a mid-tier handset and significantly below that of people who own Apple's iPhone.

Just 33 per cent of new Storm owners, for example, said they were "very satisfied" with the touch screen smart phone, compared to 77 per cent of iPhone owners who answered with that phrase in a July 2008 survey ChangeWave conducted less than a month after Apple launched the iPhone 3G.

Likewise, 14 per cent of Storm owners said they were "unsatisfied" with their new BlackBerry , compared with 5 per cent of iPhone buyers who gave that response in July.

But the Storm is not all RIM has to offer, Carton said, as he argued that the Waterloo, Ontario, company is in a strong position leading into 2009.

"For the first time in a year, RIM's next 90 days are looking very, very strong," said Carton, "even in relation to Apple. Overall, BlackBerry represents the top of the line.

And although Storm started off looking like a mid-tier smart phone in terms of its initial consumer reaction, that's not the end of the story."

According to the survey ChangeWave conducted earlier this month to measure future purchasing plans, 39 per cent of the consumers who said they would buy a smart phone in the next 90 days pegged a BlackBerry as their chosen handset.

That number was up from 30 per cent in September, which in turn was an increase over June's 23 per cent.

Apple's iPhone, meanwhile, captured just 30 per cent of the planned smart phone purchases in the most recent survey, down from 34 per cent in September and off dramatically from the whopping 56 per cent in June, more than a month before Apple actually launched the iPhone 3G but after it had disclosed many of its details.

The downturn in stated plans to buy an iPhone is understandable, said Carton, who characterized it as a "settling down" of consumer interest in Apple's device.

"Yes, the industry is driven by new product releases, but the place that Apple is in now, that's a wonderful place to be," he said. "They'll have a great quarter [in iPhone sales], even in the midst of an unbelievably bad economy."

NEXT: The ball has shifted back into BlackBerry's court

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Comments received


Damian said on Wed, 24 Dec 2008

We bought around 900 new Blackberry's this year for a medium business. 1 faulty the rest rest working 100%. They are predominantly designed for business so why don't they ask the main users - because they would not get the answers they want.

Jason Brill said on Thu, 25 Dec 2008

"Apple is in now, that's a wonderful place to be" - saturated market in a downturn, don't sound so wonderful.

I guess Apple paid for this "market research".

trolls be them... said on Sat, 27 Dec 2008

I guess there are always people that just will hate Apple or maybe are paid by an M$ company that shall remain nameless... :-)

but iPhones are selling great, so too are iPod Touch (Zune anyone, anyone, anyone, Beuiller??) and of all the computer companies, Apple seems to be the one selling great (er that actually make a profit for the company :-) ), so I am just going to relax and watch Apple move further and further ahead.

Just a thought.
en

or not .. said on Mon, 29 Dec 2008

Or maybe there are those that own Apple kit but see the iPhone for the underachiever it is.

They may also see the Apple fashion accessory's as a trend that will bottom out shortly as saturation has been reached and buyers have tighter budgets.

If Apple ever got above 15% of OS market share (it's below 6% now and not rising anytime soon) M$ may start to worry.

iHype said on Mon, 29 Dec 2008

Great study. I prefer to compare what the Storm can do out of the box (even if rushed) that the iPhone still can't. Even with app store downloads, the iPhone is still lacking too many things Apple should have never over looked.

I personally am very satisfied with the whole Storm solution. In fact, I don't need my iPhone anymore. I do wish however that RIM and Apple could somehow merge technologies. I think Apple would love this surepress screen, and make good use of it, and we all know RIM's OS needs a huge UI update. The two combined could possibly make the ultimate touch phone experience.

Hmmmmm said on Wed, 31 Dec 2008

In reply to iHype,
I personally am very satisfied with my iPhone! No it doesn't have a great camera, no it doesn't shoot bad quality video and no you can't send MMS texts but these are things I certainly haven't missed either, also if you supply everything in the first package nobody upgrades and thats just bad business. One thing you can say about the iPhone above anything else is that IT has totally moved the mobile phone goal posts. RIM said when it came out, people won't like the touch screen cause it's too fiddly and their users prefer the little plastic keys of their qwerty keyboard, but they've been pretty damn quick to jump onto the touchscreen band wagon, along with every other manufacturer, nice bit of sticking to your guns there. The testament to the iPhone is, if it truly is as bad the above PCfile remarks seem to suggest, why are all the other phone manufacturers copying it? and as for the surepress screen? I don't see why Apple would need it.

JaneC said on Wed, 31 Dec 2008

I returned my iPhone within two days down to functionality. I travel a lot for business and thought it would be useful - it's not.

Needs voice bluetooth & other (well documented) functions before I will consider one again.

Apple were not the first touch screen maker and are not the best, just currently the most popular.

iHype said on Wed, 31 Dec 2008

in reply to Hmmmmmm;

Apple could take advantage of the screen acting as a secondary button. They use that technology in their current MacBooks, but if you think the iPhone is best made the first time and no other improvements can be done... than okay.

The surepress allows for secondary menu options, adding one more button to a phone with no buttons can double the menu options. It's why I believe Apple hasn't found a satisfiable way to copy and paste yet.
I've been an avid Mac user for well over a decade. But for well over half that time I've been a BlackBerry user. Both Apple and RIM share a lot of similarities when it comes to making hardware and software for their respected industries. Apple successfully managed to add a calling feature to an iPod and everyone thinks it's the best phone out there.

iHype said on Wed, 31 Dec 2008

The iPhone (especially the 3G) is living proof Apple can sometimes get away with murder in their own markets. The 3G should have been the only iPhone proving that the original was 14 months too early.

Billy Mac said on Thu, 01 Jan 2009

"and everyone thinks it's the best phone out there" - not everyone - some see it for the piece of junk it is.

iHype said on Thu, 01 Jan 2009

You're right Billy, I just wish this whole RIM vs Apple comparison in smartphones would stop. Apple's success is not based on people switching from Blackberry to Apple, it's based on consumers who had a regular LG, Motorola, or Samsung handset and they jumped onto the iPod/phone combo when it became available.

SteveBallmerFTW said on Fri, 02 Jan 2009

@or not..
Err.. perhaps you didn't notice but Windows marketshare is decreasing worldwide, while the other players (eg Linux, Mac) are steadily increasing.

marketshare.hitslink.com
Google them.

Latest figures put Mac at 9.63% and rising. Microsoft should be worried as the trend for the whole year is not going their way. I hope Linux puts on a strong showing in 09 as well.

RealityCheck said on Fri, 02 Jan 2009

Wow - bet they worrying! nearly 10% of a market that is about to be hit big time by the downturn so guess which high priced systems will be hit the hardest. The funny thing is, they have been in the same place for so long now, it wont be changing anytime soon.

Apple desktop sales have plummeted, 38% over last years sales (NPD) so only the laptops making sales. Not a good place to be.

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