CNET News.com readers weigh in on smartphones
If CNET News.com's readers are any indication, Microsoft's Windows Mobile has a better base of support than one might think, but all the winds are blowing toward Apple.
The results of our first annual (maybe) smartphone survey are in, and thanks to everyone who left comments here on One More Thing or over on Crave, and those who flooded my inbox with responses. Yes, I know we should have a survey tool, but we're working on other stuff right now that's more important. (You'll have to trust me on that one.)
Between the comments and the e-mails, we received 159 responses. I must note that this is not a scientific study; we're not going to be putting market research firms out of business anytime soon. But I thought it was time for a look at what some of our readers are using, and I was surprised at some of the results.
Windows Mobile-based smartphones were by far the choice of survey respondents. Of the 130 people who said they owned a smartphone, 42.3 percent said they were using a Windows Mobile-based smartphone. That category includes the carrier-branded models, mostly from HTC, as well as the Motorola Q and the Samsung BlackJack, the two most-popular "tier 1" brands cited in the responses using Windows Mobile.
"This past weekend I traded in my BlackBerry Pearl for the HTC Tilt on AT&T's service," said a Crave reader with the screen name Yieeman. "So far it has been great. I like the fact that it works more like a computer for the organization of e-mails and documents, but also has amazing call clarity."
With 19.2 percent of the responses, the BlackBerry was the second most popular device among readers when the data was sorted by operating system. Apple's iPhone came in third, with 17.7 percent. Palm and Symbian tied for fourth place with 10 percent each.
Most of News.com's readers come from the United States (Thursday, 70.7 percent of our readers were in the U.S.), and most of the Windows Mobile phones claimed by respondents were carrier-branded models, with the AT&T/Cingular 8525 and 8515 popping up the most often. Symbian is by far the leading smartphone operating system provider in the world, but its phones are generally harder to find in the U.S., where RIM dominates the smartphone market.
Sorted by manufacturer, RIM and the HTC models were tied, with 19.2 percent of the survey respondents. I counted most of the carrier branded models as HTC models, in the cases where the carrier-branded model was a carbon copy of the HTC-branded model. Most people referred to their HTC designs with the carrier brand, AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint.
Apple was just behind RIM and HTC, sorted by manufacturer, with 17.7 percent of the survey responses. Apple was followed by Motorola, Palm, and Samsung, in that order, each with around 10 percent of the responses. Surprisingly, Nokia, the worldwide leader in smartphone shipments, was used by only 4.6 percent of respondents. Sony Ericsson was used by 5.4 percent.
And it's clear that while Apple's iPhone isn't the smartphone of choice just yet among survey respondents, it hasn't escaped their notice. When asked which smartphone might be their next model, survey respondents cited the iPhone most often by far.
Of the 159 total responses, 66 people said they would consider an iPhone as their next (or first) smartphone. That was three times as many mentions as the second most desired smartphone, the BlackBerry.
"If I were in the market for a phone today, especially in light of the coming apps and integration with Exchange servers, I would likely get an iPhone," Ryan Hendley said over e-mail. "My current phone, Samsung Sync, does not integrate well with my MacBook calendar and contacts. In fact, it doesn't sync at all."
All those Windows Mobile users appear to be considering a switch, as HTC's models were cited by 10 respondents, but no other major manufacturer, including Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, or Palm, received more than 5 mentions. Several people cited multiple phones on their potential wish lists, so I just counted everything that was mentioned.
Most of the people looking at the iPhone were waiting for either a 3G version or a version that worked with their carrier, citing a desire to avoid AT&T. They were also intrigued by the business features slated to roll out in June, which gives them the option of using their iPhone at work.
The statistics were interesting, but I had also asked people to share the reasons they bought a smartphone in the first place, and whether they liked their current model. Most people did in fact like their current phone. The Windows Mobile users probably grumbled the most about their devices, but still, more than half of them were happy with their experience.
Most people bought their smartphones because they wanted to access e-mail, Web browsing, and telephone calls on a single device, as might be expected. I had thought going in to this survey that most respondents would mostly be using their phones for business, but an overwhelming number of people said they used their devices both for business and pleasure.
The BlackBerry users might have obtained their phone to check their corporate e-mail, but that doesn't mean they don't check sports scores in between meetings, or plot directions to the campground on the weekend. This will be the next big source of growth for smartphones, devices that can balance multimedia consumer desires with business needs. People aren't going to want to carry multiple devices for fun and work: that's why they got a smartphone in the first place.
So, again, thanks to all who participated. Stay tuned for the big CTIA Wireless conference at the beginning of April, which should bring new smartphones, new operating system news, and tons of coverage from both News.com and our colleagues at CNET Reviews.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
so that the article would leave most people very confused on what
you were trying to achieve. Good thing is that you would send a
research company broke if were conducting real survey. I give you
an F for trying though and that's being generous.
has been enormous interest in the iPhone SDK, and there will be
lots and lots of free apps available come June. Some of the free
apps will be very high quality too -you can count on it.
But you seem to have bought into some FUD regarding the iPhone SDK and software distribution plan. Developers do not have to charge a penny for any software that they choose to distribute for the iPhone. There is a $99 annual charge for developers to have the ability to distribute apps through the App Store, but whether the choose to recoup that cost is up to them. If they do choose to charge for their apps, there is no minimum price. So developers could charge a buck just to recover their annual fee if they so choose.
To my knowledge there is no restriction on who may create apps. There are restrictions on what the apps can do. These are in place to protect the stability of the device and to restrict carrier-competitive applications and adult material.
The iFund is not an Apple creation. It is a fund set up by a venture capital firm to entice developers to come to them seeking funding. Whether Apple participated in establishing the fund is unknown to me. But no developer is required to use the firm. Rather, it is more likely that only select developers with good business plans and product ideas would even be considered to receive funding. Apple will be making their money on the 30% cut they take on any app sold through the App Store. But remember, 30% of a free app is zero.
But please enjoy your Windows Mobile device. Hopefully the iPhone SDK will kick Microsoft in the pants to redesign their user interface and innovate. I liked the "Palm-size PC" when it was first released almost ten years ago and subsequent PocketPC UI that came out *eight* years ago. Since then I haven't seen any real innovation on the platform which is why I left it.
I have been using Windows mobile devices for years, I am on my 4th one so far, this one is the first one with phone capability.
Mine is not really a smart phone as much as a computer (Pocket PC) with a phone as a part of it. (I have the full sized screen and no number pad.)
It's the UStarcom from Telus (in Canada.)
I have long taken a principle that any electronic device I get must be programmable. I want to be able to make it do what I want to do, not just what the carrier wants me to do.
I have a Timex USB Watch (which comes with an SDK) and i reprogram my car so why not my phone.
It comes with everything I need to have, phone, games, office software (I got an IR full sized keyboard as well for an earlier PPC so it works well with this one as well.)
It hooks to all of my email accounts, lets me browse the web or use it as a cell modem for my Laptop. It plays mp3s, video ... Everything I can do on my desktop or laptop I can do on this phone.
What more can you ask for? (Better batteries maybe but with a hand cranked flashlight/recharger I can recharge the batteries in 20 mins if I am out in the bush for a few days and want to surf the net from my Kayak.
The development software is a free download from MS.
With the ability to use EVDO broad band and unlimited internet access from my provider I have everything I need.
It always seems strange to me that the iphone's biggest detractors (and by that I mean trolls) conveniently forget that their needs tend to be very different from most other people's needs, calling the phone names purely because they can't hack it to death with their own brand of bad "coding" and customisation. Also I'd venture a guesstimate that 90% of these trolls haven't even spent time using an iphone and are quite happy to write it off based on their extremely preconcieved ideas.
Just to be clear, I'm not calling you a troll, your post was unbiased and factual, was nice to see it in such sharp contrast with all the trolling on anything apple related.
Of course, one of those is Motorola. And they're hurting.
I just got a Nokia E90 because of its keyboard... but its sound quality is great.
Now if only the US had real 3G, would it be complete.
iphones are 50 times more frequent than any of the other
mobile phones points to another interesting twist to the article.
the cnet explanation might be google is the fastest loading page
and when you're trying to impress a girl on the edge network, it
works the best.
wonder how many of the responses for iphones were actually
done from an iphone? and how many were done from the device
they claimed they owned.
Appleheads just need to get over it, and get real!
The iPhone is hardly a gimmick. It was released as a very compelling consumer device. It is soon being upgraded to become a very compelling business tool.
You're absolutely right that you have been using your Windows Mobile device for years. As I mentioned in a response to another comment on this article, Microsoft released the WinCE platform as a handheld over *ten* years ago. The UI used by today's WinMo devices hasn't been substantially updated in over *eight* years.
Having owned six different Palm-size PC/Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices in that time, I can tell you that none of them are as easy to use or as pertinent to end users as the iPhone is and will be.
The iPhone's weak points such as lack of 3G and GPS were concious decisions made by Apple to satisfy battery needs and possibly compatibility issues due to Apple's rush to market. I believe the the iPhone "2.0" is probably what Apple would have wanted to release to begin with but they realized that they had a small window of opportunity to wow the population at large with a slick, stylus-free, touch-sensitive device and they couldn't fit all of the development in that window.
I applaud them for their ability to release a stable product with the breadth of functionality the iPhone represents in the time frame they had and I further applaud them for their commitment to release significant, free updates to the functionality of the phone in the short amount of time it has been on the market.
I think it's time for Microsoft and their mobile device users to "get real" with the fact that their user interface is outdated, unstable and overly complicated. This is coming from a formerly fervent user and part-time developer of the WinMo platform.
Sorry kid, but reality doesn't reflect the informal poll or your greatest hopes... ;)
/P
- Smartphones
- by rm_blogger March 17, 2008 5:02 PM PDT
- I used to have a Motorola Q and upgraded to a Samsung i760 (which I hated with a passion). I have just recently switched to a Blackberry Pearl and really like it. I wish that I could sync my email with Outlook but other than that it's been great. If Verizon had the iPhone I would probably switch to using it.
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