iPhone Then and Now: Fewer Willing to Buy; More Willing to Pay

The percentage of shoppers reporting they were “very likely” or “extremely likely” to purchase an iPhone actually fell from 26 percent to 15 percent between the period right after the launch announcement and the first week of June, according to Compete surveys of consumers shopping for or researching iPods in January and June, reports MarketingCharts.

However, some 8 percent of those saying in June they were very likely to buy an iPhone were also willing to spend over $500 on it; therefore, some 1.2 percent of respondents reported that they were likely to purchase the iPhone and pay over $500 for it - compared with 0.3 percent who had said so five months earlier, according to Compete.

Additional findings from Compete’s surveys:

• 60 percent of those likely to buy an iPhone and not already AT&T Mobility customer said they would switch carriers to get an iPhone.
• Consumers said the top criteria in the decision to purchase an iPhone are price, phone performance, battery life and ease of use - similar to criteria to evaluate any phone.
• Only 16 percent of respondents said they were concerned about the difficulty of texting using a touchscreen, compared with 25 percent who said they were worried about the phone’s calling functionality not being as well developed as its music functionality.

“It’s worth remembering that for most consumers, a phone is just a phone and will stay that way for quite a while. In Compete’s survey, 55 percent of respondents said they would still rather carry separate devices for their music and phone calls,” writes Compete’s Miro Kazakoff.

About the survey: Compete surveyed 379 people about the device after the announcement of the iPhone in January. The survey targeted consumers who had been observed researching an iPod online in the preceding month. In the first week of June, Compete surveyed an additional 680 iPod researchers to look at attitudes toward the iPhone just before its launch on June 29. Compete targeted recent iPod shoppers in both surveys to identify trends and target consumers who were more likely to be aware and informed of the iPhone.