I won’t deny that the iPhone is a hyperbeast of media goodness. They surveyed 10,000 iPhone users and found that AT&T’s unlimited data plan is a huge reason as to why the iPhone has been so successful in the media category. The survey also revealed the following factoids:
-30.9 % watch mobile TV or video versus 4.6 market average
-49.7 % access social networking which represents 12x’s the market average (specifically 20% owners access Facebook)
-30.4 % access YouTube and 36 % use Google Maps compared to 1 % of all mobile subs accessing YouTube and 2.6 % accessing Google Maps
-74.1 % listen to mobile music compared to 6.7 % of the total mobile audience
I won’t argue that AT&T’s unlimited data plans help, but I’m just wondering how many of those 10,000 were actually AT&T subscribers. All in all it’s an in-depth survey and worth taking a look at. I feel myself slowly caving into the hype.
M:METRICS: IPHONE HYPE HOLDS UP [M:Metrics]
I have a hard time agreeing with their conclusions.
1) Those who buy the iPhone are (and maybe I’m making a little bit of an assumption here but I believe it’s true) tech-savvy users, who went looking for the iPhone (the high cost helps weed out the casual buyer, too). They are getting the iPhone BECAUSE it has these features. So they will use them. The fact that the Google Maps and YouTube apps are right there staring you in the face every time you are at the home screen probably helps. You can’t really say the same thing about the user of any other platform, be it BlackBerry, or WinMo, or even Palm.
2) In order for me to believe that it is due to the AT&T unlimited plan, I would like to see a comparison with other folks that have an unlimited plan. I have had unlimited data for two years and in that time I’ve had a Treo, a WinMo, a S60, and a feature phone. In none of those cases did I EVER use the data service as much as I do now (and the iPhone isn’t even my hands down favorite). Yeah, I used FaceBook and Google Maps, but that’s about it.
So yeah, the unlimited data plan means I can pull my phone out and just USE it without thinking “oh gee, how many MB am I up to this month” but for me it’s not a new feature on the iPhone and yet I find my browsing habits are drastically different. But that’s just me.
Oh, and there was a BlackBerry in that mix, too.
I did email and all that other stuff on all of those various devices, too.
Reading that article in detail (yes, I am that moron who commented before reading the article, shame on me), I realize that what I said in my last comment was pretty much exactly what the article said, that unlimited data reduces the hesitance to use the data services. I actually don’t think they really said that the increase was due to AT&T’s plan at all, just that it was a factor to consider, and that it had an effect regardless of device (the exact point of my first comment).
And naturally it will skew the numbers because 100% of iPhone users have unlimited data, whereas not everyone who buys a Palm or Windows Mobile phone would spring for the data plan, but that really gets back to what I said in my first comment anyway, that those who buy an iPhone want an iPhone. Those who buy a Palm or Windows Mobile don’t necessarily feel the same way, they might just end up with it because of work or other factors.