A recent survey of iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre owners by research firm ChangeWave finds that when it comes to the iPhone consumers can’t get more satisfaction with a 99pc contentment rating after their purchase.
Breaking this down, 82pc of iPhone 3GS owners were very satisfied with their purchase with 17pc somewhat satisfied while only 45pc of Palm Pre owners were very satisfied and 42pc ticked the ‘somewhat satisfied’ box.
Reasons for happiness with their new smartphone varied between devices although ease of use and touchscreen interface were high on the list for both.
Meanwhile 33pc of iPhone 3GS owners said faster internet browsing was one of their favourite things about the device and this may come as no surprise: 31pc loved the third party applications.
For Palm Pre owners – touchscreen and ease of use aside – multitasking, network coverage and good integration with the internet were winners.
Smartphone turnoffs
What did these smartphone owners hate? Short battery life was a big crib for both, with 41pc of iPhone 3GS owners and 45pc of Palm Pre owners griping about this.
For iPhone fans being locked down to one network (specifically AT&T as this survey was US-centric) was a let down for 32pc while AT&T’s network speed and coverage also disappointed 23pc.
Interestingly 8pc complained that their employer’s IT department didn’t support it while the same percentage wanted handwriting recognition and a further 8pc were exasperated by the difficulties encountered in importing contacts.
For 24pc of Palm pre owners the third party applications were disappointing while 11pc didn’t like the multimedia player.
The same percentage (8pc) encountered the exact same lack of IT support with employers while interestingly 8pc found the Pre difficult to use.
Palm to get app happy
For those 24pc of Pre users expressing disappointment at the third party applications worry not: paid apps will be coming to the Pre this Autumn as Palm opens up its e-commerce platform.
We’re rolling out the submission process and e-commerce capabilities of the Palm App Catalog with careful consideration for both the developer and customer,” said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc.
“We want every part of the Palm webOS experience to be the best, and a strong e-commerce model is key to a thriving developer community, great apps and an excellent customer experience.”
