iPhone Users Most Loyal: Study
Market firm GFk confirms what most of us suspected already, iPhone users are the most brand loyal. According to the recent study, 84% of iPhone users would purchase another iPhone while 60% of Android users would and only 48% of Rim Blackberry users would.
Hmmm...not a big surprise there, but it confirms a couple of issues. In many circles, the iPhone is now considered almost a luxury phone. Executives like it and for Blackberry, that's becoming a real issue. While it strikes me that RIM is hoping that HTML5 apps will become the standard, that strategy will not build brand loyalty. In fact, I think HTML5 apps - at least those our company has developed so far - are slower and clunkier than native apps.
For RIM, they need to develop a strategy which allows native apps to be built easily and incent developers to get on board. The good news for RIM is this: their international sales are exploding and if they get the app portion of the business right soon, they can maintain that market share outside U.S. borders. As it is, they will need to rebuild their brand image in the United States over the next few years so they can gain back some of the market share they have lost.
As for iPhone, well, what's there to say, they have gotten it as right as a corporation can over the last few years. I can find places to criticize (like the lack of 4G LTE in the latest Verizon model), but I can't fault their success. I am currently a loyal iPhone user, but I would not be disappointed to see a great competitor rise up out of the Android or Windows market.
