Most BlackBerry owners plan to defect to Android, iPhone
updated 01:05 pm EDT, Mon August 2, 2010
Nielsen finds few BlackBerry owners loyal
The majority of BlackBerry owners now plan to jump ship for another smartphone platform, Nielsen discovered on Monday. Of American BlackBerry users, only 42 percent plan to get another BlackBerry as their next phone. About 29 percent plan to get an iPhone instead, and 21 percent hope to get an Android phone.
The research group also observed that loyalty is only truly high with the iPhone. About 89 percent of iPhone owners plan to buy another, but a significantly lower 71 percent of Android users feel the same about their own choice of platform. A full 21 percent have already decided they would rather have an iPhone instead. With either the Apple or Google platforms, just two to three percent are considering a BlackBerry.
Results from the study reinforce beliefs that Android has overtaken the iPhone in market share during the spring but still put it behind the BlackBerry at 27 percent versus 33 percent. Apple's market share has faced a bell curve as it's now back at the 23 percent it saw a year ago, but RIM faces the bleakest prospects of the top three as its share has dropped steadily from 45 percent last spring.
The reasons for the BlackBerry's decline weren't directly touched by Nielsen, but the aging OS and continued focus on non-touch phones may have hurt the company. BlackBerry OS 5 and earlier have objectively inferior web browsers and are also hurt by the lack of mobile apps, a lack of more touch-friendly elements, and even interface limits with the company's traditionally celebrated e-mail. OS 6 will significantly improve the web and touch elements but isn't considered a radical overhaul. The BlackBerry 9800 is due to be unveiled at an event tomorrow and is being treated by some as a gauge of whether RIM can reverse its performance. [via GigaOM]
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2010
Still weighing: Blackberry vs Iphone
the last round i picked A Blackberry bold over an iphone 3G.
The main reason was the physical keyboard, and the familiarity with the blackberry workflow.
This time however, if i decide to continue spending so much money on a phone (monthly bills are highest at AT&T according to my research) i am drawn to get an Iphone 4, and here's why:
1. Blackberry software - Lacking, i had to get a third party software to do certain things, like bulk sync, contact, movies, mp3 etc...
2. videos are not playing correctly, sometime crash my device. one of the main reasons i got a blackberry was to drop the ipod touch for the gym. Blackberry video player is not good. it doesn't play a lot of things i want it to. and i still haven't found a fast successful way to sync podcasts from itunes. it's probably something i haven't researched enough, but i'd like it to wok out of the bag and be straight forward. it wasn't.
3. after i load new music into my Bold, it takes a few minutes to scan the music and get it to work. at that time the blackberry is very slow, i basically have to wait for it to finish.
4. this is my 3rd bold. i had it replaced 2 times, and it will still unexpectedly boot on me.
5. even editing text files, i have very long text files and it would sporadically jump up to the top of the doc while i was working on it.
The biggest reason to not have a smartphone at all is AT&T. the things i had to go through with my Bold made me eventually change service to T-Mo, which i use my blackberry on but i can only get EDGE service on, not 3G.
I really think T-Mos better service is worth the move, this was the case with my phone. I've been with both companies before for a few years, and T-Mo really is the better provider when it comes to customer service, friendliness, and general success with their products and services.
I love Blackberries, but the software i got with mine (version of 4) is undercooked. i know they have 5 out and 6 coming soon, but i don't feel that when i played with 5 i saw a significant resolve to my issues.