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A month after Apple released the iPhone, only eight percent of Americans knew someone who owned one — now, seven months later, that number is up to 34 percent.
In June, Qualtrics Survey Software, a leader in the enterprise feedback management industry surveyed Americans from all 50 states about the release of the new Apple iPhone. When asked, “Have you ever thought about purchasing an iPhone?” Eighty-seven percent answered no. Qualtrics asked respondents the same question last week, and this time 31 percent said they had.
“The Apple iPod practically defined the market for mp3 players, and I think many expected the iPhone to do the same,” says Ryan Smith, Director of Qualtrics Survey Software. “That’s why these survey results are surprising — only a third of our respondents know someone who bought one.”
A month after the phone’s release, forty-seven percent of respondents felt the iPhone was over-rated and 51 percent said they were unsure if the phone lived up to consumer expectations. Only the remaining two percent of those surveyed felt the phone was better than advertised.
“In this day and age where devices such as cell-phones are viewed as a status symbol, we wanted to see how important having the latest and greatest was to people,” says Randy Boyer, project manager at Qualtrics. “The results were interesting.”
Twenty-three percent of the Americans surveyed preferred to have a new, stylish and technologically advanced cell-phone verses clothes of the latest fashion. Thirteen percent preferred the described phone to a state of the art computer, and nine percent even viewed their phone as more important than a new car with the latest technology.
“We’re in the business of market research,” Smith says. “Sometimes it’s just as interesting to look back at why a product or service didn’t succeed, as it is to help make sure it does.”
About Qualtrics
Qualtrics (qualtrics.com) is a market leader in Internet-based, electronic survey creation, analysis and distribution software. More than 30,000 customers prefer Qualtrics for their market research, enterprise feedback management, and survey software needs, including representatives from Fortune 500 companies and the nation’s top business schools.
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