Apple and Google are gaining in
appeal among smartphone users, but RIM seems to be struggling with loyalty, concludes a brand loyalty survey conducted by Crowd Science.
According to the online survey, 90% of iPhone and
Android users said they planned to stick with their current phone brand and platform when buying their next phone. By contrast, 40% of BlackBerry users would prefer an iPhone as their next smartphone
purchase, while a third of them said they would also switch to an Android-powered phone.
"[RIM]'s got a tough road ahead," John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science, tells Marketing Daily. "The
BlackBerry as a brand just isn't garnering the loyalty seen with other mobile operating systems."
The opportunity for Android, however, seems to be with BlackBerry users rather than with iPhone
users. Only 9% of iPhone users said they would switch to an Android-based Nexus One phone. (The number jumped to 60% for users of smartphones not made by RIM or Apple.) According to the survey,
Android users tended to be younger and more affluent than iPhone and BlackBerry users. "Google has done a more than reasonable job in just getting awareness out there," Martin says. "The Android has
made an impact."
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Despite the lack of brand loyalty, RIM remains the leader in smartphone market share, due mostly to its business-friendly platform. (IPhone and Android users were much more
likely to use their phones for personal use over the BlackBerry users, many of whom may have their phones supplied by their workplace.) "That's the inertia; they are provided by business [clients],"
Martin says. "There's so much upside for iPhone and Android to be introduced to businesses that aren't being tapped."