iPhone trumps BlackBerry in app use, social nets
updated 12:35 pm EDT, Thu September 10, 2009
iPhone users download more apps
iPhone owners are much more likely to download apps and get involved with social networking than their BlackBerry-owning counterparts, Compete revealed today in a new study. About 72 percent of Apple smartphone users are likely to have downloaded at least 10 third-party apps, but 73 percent of BlackBerry users have picked up five apps or less. The researchers add that iPhone owners are more willing to buy their apps than BlackBerry owners.
Similar data shows that iPhone users are appropriately much more active in social networking than BlackBerry owners. Roughly 71 percent of Apple users have a Facebook account where only 44 percent of BlackBerry users can claim the same. iPhone users are also significantly more likely to have a Twitter account (26 percent versus 15) and are more than twice as likely to actually use Twitter on their phones, at 26 percent compared to 10 percent. Industry-wide, only 45 percent have Facebook accounts and 19 percent have Twitter accounts, and 85 percent of smartphone Twitter users actually opt to use the website instead.
Regardless of platform, 83 percent of users prefer apps that cost below $5.
The gap in usage habits isn't explained, but Apple's much larger app catalog of 75,000 apps provides more selection than BlackBerry App World, which at last count two months ago had just 2,000 apps. RIM also forces companies with paid apps to charge at least $3 and doesn't have access to as many developers known for writing social networking apps, such as Icon Factory (Twitterrific) or atebits (Tweetie).
Um...
09/10, 01:24pm reply
"Trumps" is a strong word and rather unnecessary. This article just said that older, business and government users dont use as many social networking apps on their phones. Genius reporting.
gitcypher
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2007
um...or
09/10, 03:14pm reply
It could just say that iPhone users are more in touch with technology than stoic old Blackberry users.
Just saying...
fattychance
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2009
BlackBerry users don't care
09/10, 03:35pm reply
about apps. They only need to text and that's what the BB user is about. When you build your smartphone around a physical keyboard as a starting point, you have to know where these people are coming from. I'd always rather have screen space over a physical keyboard. I do understand that most users of BB are business people, so work should be their main focus.
I never asked a BB user that needed one for work, what they heck they were texting constantly about that couldn't be done with a simple phone conversation or a downloaded spreadsheet or live database. These BB users must be at a certain level or something that requires them to just send and receive texts all day long.
Would someone clue me as to what type of job needs constant push emails all day long? I'm very curious about that. I've know a couple of government workers that say they just hate answering emails since it takes up a lot of their day just reading generalized emails.
Anyway, BB users, even consumer users, must have a whole different mentality from iPhone users since they're not heavily browsing the internet.
iphonerulez
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
um...or or
09/10, 03:40pm reply
or it could just mean that blackberry owners are too busy making money to waste their time with the twaddle that is social networking...
chucker
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2007