1 In 3 Americans Wants An iPhone 5, Even Though It Doesn't Exist Yet

Not very much is known for a fact about the iPhone 5--not its release date, not the new features it will have, not how much it will cost, nor, indeed, whether or not it even exists (there are rumors Apple's next iPhone will be the "iPhone 4S").

And yet one thing is set in stone: Americans want one.

According to a survey of about 3,000 U.S. consumers conducted by online retail store PriceGrabber.com, 35 percent of shoppers say they plan on buying an iPhone 5 whenever it is released. Of that 35 percent, half of the respondents say they will buy the new iPhone within a year of its release, while about 30 percent want to be using it by New Year's 2012, responding that they would purchase the phone by the end of the year. Though Android is America's top smartphone platform by volume as per a recent Nielsen survey, 48 percent of the PriceGrabber survey respondents indicated that iOS was their desired platform of choice. Nielsen's numbers tell a slightly different story, one that suggests Android's popularity is on the rise: according to research conducted between July and September 2010, 25.5 percent of consumers said their next desired smartphone platform was Android, while a greater share, 32.7 percent, said they preferred to buy an iPhone for their next phone. Those ratios have since evened out. Nielsen found in a survey conducted between January and March 2011 that 31.1 percent of users planned on getting an Android phone, whereas 30 percent planned on getting an iPhone.

The PriceGrabber survey also gave Apple some free market research: The features that consumers would most like to see on this hypothetical iPhone 5 are a longer battery life (59 percent) and a lower price (55 percent), the latter of which has at least been floated in previous iPhone rumors. (Not that iPhone users are known for total knowledge of the devices they do have: a recent survey by Retrevo showed that one-third of iPhone users thought that they were operating on the 4G network).

Though the latest solid rumors have a new iPhone coming out in "early-to-mid-September," Apple still has not officially announced a release date, nor have they confirmed that an iPhone update is in the works. For a comprehensive look at what the most trustworthy sources have said the best time to buy an iPhone is and what upgrades they expect it to contain, check out our guide here.

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Comments

[TheOuroborus]

11:35 AM on 08/14/2011

They only want it because they hope it works on Unlimited Sprint. The iPhone is one of the most useless money sucking gadgets ever invented. It's a half-arsed computer and truly lousey phone.

[NerdyStudent]

10:36 AM on 07/28/2011

One in four consumers still gets bummed out when they try and load their favorite website to find: Sorry, but your device is not Flash compatible, goodbye.

[Onutz]

08:58 AM on 08/01/2011

Of course that one consumer could resolve the issue simply by purchasing a device that has Flash if it were "truly" a problem.

[Farm-Hand]

07:36 AM on 07/28/2011

This reminds me of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg

[Mitchman57]

11:23 AM on 07/28/2011

LOL. Reminds me of the Pet Rock and Cabbage Patch Kids.

[Fuad Abdul Hadi]

01:09 AM on 07/28/2011

Can the avg Us consumer afford it ??? ,or is it gona be another item on their wish list ,just like many other priorities turned into a dream!!!!

[CaptainObvvious]

08:25 AM on 07/28/2011

Its not going to be any more expensive than their competition's higher end phones. $199 with contract is pretty much the norm for any phone... Its actually cheaper than some.

[littlebrowngirl]

12:34 AM on 07/28/2011

Sure do.

[Rober]

10:22 PM on 07/27/2011

Little explanation exists of the survey but it seems that an online poll has revealed that 35% of iPhone owners plan to buy the iPhone 5. I'm so surprised.

[imayes]

10:17 PM on 07/27/2011

I'm one of the "1's". When the iPhone looks like this (http://www.designbuzz.com/entry/15-transparent-gadgets-that-let-you-see-through-them/), give me a call.

[proudHB]

09:56 PM on 07/27/2011

"Even Though It Doesn't Exist Yet..."

Hmmm Am I the only one annoyed by this awful sentence? I mean, I suppose that's why people just "want it," instead of actually "having it" right now...

Like, I wanna see Ricky Rubio in the NBA, even though he doesn't play there yet...

[merriweather89]

05:50 PM on 07/27/2011

Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?!

[ewj1]

05:03 PM on 07/27/2011

These are "online consumers." That is the same percent of people who think the iphone runs of 4G/LTE. The other issue is that the survey was from US and Canadian users.

[Mitchman57]

04:21 PM on 07/27/2011

After reading the third paragraph, I'm wondering why iphone is even mentioned in the headline?

"Nielsen found in a survey conducted between January and March 2011 that 31.1 percent of users planned on getting an Android phone, whereas 30 percent planned on getting an iPhone."

How about "iphone Sales Projected To Dip Compared To The Android Platform's Rise In Popularity" instead?

[CaptainObvvious]

08:28 AM on 07/28/2011

You know that Android doesn't have the market share it does because of its popularity right? I mean, its a good OS don't get me wrong but price and carrier availability is a MUCH MUCH bigger factor in their rise.

If all phones were the same price iPhone would be dominating. The fact is since there are free Android phones or buy one get one free Android phones and they are available on every single carrier from a dozen manufacturers getting released every other week they are playing a strategy that assures more market share.

If Apple were playing solely for more OS market share they would adopt a different strategy. But they're doing fine, they had a record quarter for the company last quarter and sold more iPhones than EVER before... So they aren't dipping they're growing.

[NerdyStudent]

10:25 AM on 07/28/2011

Apple's about making money.

They would sooner go down to being last in sales, selling their products for premium prices, than adopt a strategy to compete with price sharks.

[Mitchman57]

11:18 AM on 07/28/2011

"You know that Android doesn't have the market share it does because of its popularity right? I mean, its a good OS don't get me wrong but price and carrier availabili­ty is a MUCH MUCH bigger factor in their rise."

That's like saying if it wasn't for roads, cars wouldn't be so popular. ...if Google makes a bigger network, of course their devices will be more popular, sell more. To keep this share, they have to continue to offer top quality goods or they'll fade away. So far, so good. right?

[Mitchman57]

04:11 PM on 07/27/2011

1 In 3 Americans Wants An iPhone 5, Even Though It Doesn't Do Any More Than Any Other Smartphone.

4 In 5 HP Readers Are Wondering If Someone At HP Owns Apple Stock.

[Arashi]

04:07 PM on 07/27/2011

1 in 3 Americans would vote for Dubya again.

[John Crane]

03:59 PM on 07/27/2011

My Android phone works great. Why buy something I don't want and don't need?

[Onutz]

09:53 AM on 08/01/2011

(My Android phone works great. Why buy something I don't want and don't need?))

Exactly. That's how everyone feels about their phone, no matter what brand it is.

[gemini68]

03:58 PM on 07/27/2011

I just bought the 4 back in February. I'll get the 5 when my plan in eligible for upgrade. But if there aren't any significant changes to the phone that make it worth buying a new one I'll just keep my 4, thank you very much.