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IPhone Rated Highest in User Loyalty

IPhone Rated Highest in User Loyalty

The iPhone received a substantially higher “loyalty score” than Android phones, according to a report released by market research firm Zokem, suggesting that Apple’s handset will stand firm despite recent strides made by Google’s mobile platform.

The Espoo, Finland-based marketing company surveyed over 6,000 Americans over the course of 2010 to derive its net promoter scores, or NPS, and awarded the iPhone a 73 percent rating, while Android handsets took second place with an NPS of 40 percent. Research in Motion’s BlackBerry line earned a score of 30 percent and Nokia’s Symbian phones rated 24 percent, while Palm and older Windows Mobile phones pulled just 10 percent each.

Android users are actually the most likely to buy an Android phone again, at 89 percent, while iPhone users get another iPhone 85 percent of the time, according to the research. It’s not immediately clear how those similar statistics relate to the large gap in NPS scores, although the Android platform powers a number of handset models and carriers, and consumers have more opportunity to choose and jump from one Android model to another.

BlackBerry users stick with the platform 61 percent of the time, but only 28 percent of Palm owners and 8 percent of Symbian users plan to stay the course.

“The figures suggest clearly that iPhone is the top performing platform in terms of user loyalty, and therefore, it is an increasingly likely pick for a repurchase,” said Hannu Verkasalo, chief executive of Zokem. “Android is a good number two in the US market, even though the loyalty score is not nearly as high as it is for iPhones, but it seems that people who are using Android are also very likely to buy an Android-based device as their next smartphone too.”

A similar survey by research firm GfK Group last November found that iPhone owners were more than twice as likely to stay with the platform as Android users, but that smartphone owners as a group are fickle, with only 25 percent planning to remain loyal to their current brand.

Zokem’s numbers bear out other research that shows iPhone and Android jockeying for dominance while pulling market share from RIM’s BlackBerry, the current U.S. leader. The trailing platforms in the race from Palm and Nokia look set to lose even more ground.

However, events this year could see changes in the balance of power. Verizon’s iPhone will pour fuel on Apple’s fire, RIM is set to unveil some more capable handsets, Microsoft’s new and much-improved mobile OS is likely to carve out significant share, and the long-struggling Nokia will launch a fresh mobile platform.

[Thanks: http://www.mobiledia.com]

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