Smartphones: Is there a difference in the consumer base?

When it comes to smartphones, is one user base better than another? A new study from CrowdScience sheds light on the similarities - and more importantly the differences - between Smartphone consumers using the two biggest brands in the Smartphone biz: iPhone and Blackberry.

by Kristina Knight

Perhaps the biggest difference in the two user bases is that the iPhone consumer seems to be more loyal and contented than the Blackberry user. According to the report about 40% of Blackberry users are considering switching to the iPhone when it comes time to buy. Roughly 40% also reported they would either 'probably' or 'definitely' buy another Blackberry, but consider this: more than 80% of current iPhone users said they would stick with iPhones in the future.

That is a big difference. Other interesting findings include:

• iPhone users are more apt to surf the Web, check email or listen to music via mobile
• iPhone users consider their phone friendly with easy navigation, apps and even screen size
• Only about 3% of Smartphone users use mobiles for only business

Although this study strongly suggests that iPhone users are more likely to surf the Web or stick with their brand of choice, this does not indicate that marketers should target marketing messages only to the iPhone consumer. Despite the study indicators, there are still millions of consumers using non-iPhone models and cutting them out of the advertising pie by making messages viewable only to iPhone users would cut out a large portion of the mobile ad base.

Tags: CrowdSciense, mobile consumers, mobile loyalty, mobile marketing, smartphone users, smartphones