Study: many iPhone users carry second cell phone
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
May 12, 2008 at 10:30am
Overall, iPhone users are happy with the communications device, but many also carry a second cell phone, according to a new study by Rubicon Consulting. The research firm conducted a survey of 460 iPhone users in the US to determine how the iPhone is being used and its effects on consumers and the tech industry.
Here are some of the key findings:
° iPhone users are very satisfied. The iPhone users surveyed reported very high levels of satisfaction with the product. They are using its features extensively. ° E-mail is the #1 function. The most heavily used data function on the iPhone is reading (but not writing) e-mail.
° The iPhone increases mobile browsing. More than 75 percent of iPhone users say it has led them to do more mobile browsing.
° Still, the iPhone has some drawbacks. About 40 percent of iPhone users say the iPhone has trouble displaying some web sites they want to visit.
° The iPhone is expanding the smartphone market. About 50 percent of iPhones replaced conventional mobile phones, 40 percent replaced smartphones, and 10 percent replaced nothing. Among conventional phones, Motorola Razr was the phone most often replaced. Among smartphones, Windows Mobile and RIM Blackberry were most often replaced.
° A third of iPhone users carry a second phone. There have been anecdotal reports of iPhone users carrying a second mobile phone, either for basic voice calling, or for other functions like composing e-mail. The survey confirmed those reports.
° A quarter of iPhone users say it’s displacing a notebook computer. Twenty-eight percent of iPhone users surveyed said strongly that they often carry their iPhone instead of a notebook computer.
° Users are young. About half of iPhone users are under age 30 and about 15 percent are students.
° Apple sells to its installed base. At least 75 percent of US iPhone users are previous Apple customers—they used either iPods or Macs.
° The iPhone increases phone bills. The iPhone has increased its users’ monthly mobile phone bills by an average of 24 percent, or $228 extra per year.
° The iPhone leads people to change carriers. Almost half of iPhone users changed carriers when they got the iPhone.
° AT&T’s gamble pays off. The iPhone has probably increased AT&T’s gross service revenue by about US$2 billion per year.
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
