iPhone is coming next month in the U.S. and by the start of 2008 in Europe, and we have yet another market prediction will it or will it not succeed in the marketplace.
Markitecture surveyed 1,300 people who both owned their own cell phone and were responsible for the monthly payments. Of that number, 77% of respondents were at least slightly familiar with the iPhone, with 41% of them having a good impression of the iPhone based on everything they had seen or heard. Interestingly, familiarity with the iPhone is positively correlated with overall impression — strength of impression increases dramatically with increased exposure, with 83% of those very familiar with the iPhone had an excellent or very good impression of the product.
However, when asked their likelihood of buying the iPhone within the next year, trial (assuming 100% awareness and distribution) was 6%. In fact, roughly 60% of respondents said that there was zero chance they would purchase the product. Still, Markitecture reminds us that the popular MOTO RAZR after its launch in 2004 achieved a 6% market share at its peak, meaning that the same percent of the market share could be more than enough for Apple.
As for reasons for not purchasing the iPhone, cost was cited as the top reason, followed by the carrier issues and/or contracts.