Despite the screeching headlines claiming we’ll soon be a society dominated by Android devices and that there’s simply no hope for Apple, yet another survey reveals that iOS is still the clear winner when it comes to customer satisfaction, as well as being the preferred mobile operating system.
ChangeWave Research has released the results of their latest survey of 4,163 consumers, and it shows some not-so surprising results -- Apple’s iOS is the preferred mobile operating system, with a much higher satisfaction rating among customers. ChangeWave’s results were primarily focused on the North American market, with 89 percent of respondents based in the United States and only 11 percent elsewhere.
“Going forward, the Apple iOS remains the number one preference for buyers -- with 46 percent of those planning to buy a smart phone in the next 90 days saying they prefer to have the Apple iOS on their new phone, up two points since the March survey,” the report reveals.
Needless to say, that puts Google’s Android firmly in second place with 32 percent of the market, up one point. By comparison, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s mobile OS is a mere four percent, once again “its lowest level ever in a ChangeWave survey.”
The news is even brighter when factoring in customer satisfaction, with 70 percent of iOS users claiming they are “Very Satisfied” compared to only 50 percent with Android users. The numbers drop even lower for Windows OS and Research in Motion, with only 27 and 26 percent, respectively.
Finally, ChangeWave polled consumers after the announcement of iCloud in early June in an effort to find how the cloud-based sync service might impact their future buying plans. 29 percent of current Apple product owners said they were “More Likely” to buy an Apple product after the iCloud announcement, compared with 13 percent of non-Apple owners.
What does it all mean? Assuming Apple doesn’t have a repeat of its MobileMe misstep, iCloud could certainly be a nice incentive to keep folks moving to iOS as time goes on, although the platform is certainly holding its own against the Android invasion for now.
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Elgarak
July 18, 2011 at 4:20pm
There's a big flaw in yorur analysis: Comsumers do not buy iOS -- they buy an iPad. They also do not buy android, they buy a tablet or phone that happens to ship with android. That alone explains the disceprancy, as there are only two current iOS products (the iPad2 and the iPhone4), plus three legacy products.
The android market, however, is split between a multitude of devices from various manufacturers, running various versions of android, with varying capabilities and compatibilities. In short, the inticracies of android are too complex for most consumers, even if they are tech-savvy.
The clean, simplified world of Apple is far more attractive.
