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Apple

35% Consumers Want iPhone 5... Sight Unseen 566

judgecorp writes "Apple's iPhone 5 is not announced yet, but 35 percent of consumers say they will buy it, when it comes out, even though they know nothing about it. The figure comes from an online survey of 3,000 US consumers by Experian's PriceGrabber shopping website."
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35% Consumers Want iPhone 5... Sight Unseen

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  • by Petersko ( 564140 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:03AM (#36883858)
    They're probably people like me who own the 3gs (or older), still had time too much time on their plans (or who thought the 4 didn't quite justify an upgrade), and believe the next one is likely a good time to step up.
    • by Scutter ( 18425 )

      They're probably people like me who own the 3gs (or older), still had time too much time on their plans (or who thought the 4 didn't quite justify an upgrade), and believe the next one is likely a good time to step up.

      I'm out of my current plan and my next one will be either an Android or an iPhone. For a variety of well-considered reasons, I'm leaning towards an iPhone, but I know how the markets work for Apple products and accessories. I'd just as soon wait two months for the next rev to come out before I switch.

    • Same boat with me. 3GS will be upgraded this fall unless it really is crap, which knowing Apple, would be difficult. /cue the Android fanboi's--I like it too but I like my iPhone better.
    • Exactly. For the last year, I've had the mid-June contract end date for my 3Gs set as an alarm (in iCal). Then Apple came and fracked up the iPhone model release schedule. I might get a 5 if it has the right features, but I would jump on a 4 if they dropped the price to $50-$99 right now.
    • On the flip side are people like me...I got a 4 right when it came out and have been very happy with it. I don't really see a compelling reason to upgrade to the 5 - I'm happy with the camera and video capabilities, I'm happy with the speed and functionality, I'm happy with the screen resolution, I don't care about LTE (I mostly use the phone on wifi in any case - I work at a university, so it's ubiquitous both at work and at home), and I don't have any desire to use NFC. I really can't imagine what feat

  • by Tridus ( 79566 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:03AM (#36883860) Homepage

    This is news? Coming up next you'll tell us that a new study predicts the Sun will continue to rise in the East?

  • 35% of what? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by captainpanic ( 1173915 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:03AM (#36883868)

    35% of people who visit the Apple website on a daily basis? 35% of people who registered for some random website through their iPhone?

    Seems like an awfully high percentage for just a regular average consumer survey.

    • HAHAHAHAHA. Best. Video. EVAR. (and I'm an iPhone user)

      • by alta ( 1263 )

        Yeah, that was hilarious.

        Yes, I'm also an iPhone user.

        Yes, I'm going to buy a 5, not matter what. I'm currently on an ORIGINAL iphone. I need a new phone. I also have a Galaxy S, and it's shit. No, not 'Tha Shiit' but, like a piece of shit. Don't like it. Don't like the seemingly empty android market place. Don't like the the fact that if I use half the features on it my battery is dead in 12 hours.

        So yes. I haven't seen a iP5 but I sure as hell am going to be getting one.

  • by zAPPzAPP ( 1207370 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:04AM (#36883888)

    By "3000 consumers", do they mean 3000 Apple consumers that just bought the IPhone 4 on that site by any chance?
    Because I really doubt that 35% of "consumers" in general plan to buy a new phone, not to speak of a certain Apple phone...

    • 3000 consumers who participated in an online survey not run by Apple. I didn't get any further details. However sample bias and other statistical characteristics apply so I would take the survey with a grain of salt unless I knew more details.
  • of those 35% would put down money now - sight unseen - for it, as opposed to just saying that they "will" buy it.

    Also, the article does not say where the survey took place - if it were on, and linked to by, a Mac user site, it's perhaps unsurprising that the result is what it is.

    • I would if I got some sort of pre-order discount. I mean it's unlikely that the 5 could be a downgrade or worse than the 4. So if you were planning on upgrading why not?

      • Considering the 4 had some well-publicized problems the 3 didn't (whether or not you consider those problems significant in your own case), is your statement based on a belief that lightning can't strike the same place twice?

      • by arth1 ( 260657 )

        I mean it's unlikely that the 5 could be a downgrade or worse than the 4.

        Yeah, just like it's unlikely that Mac OS X Server 10.7 (Lion) would be a downgrade or worse than Mac OS X Server 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

        Oh, wait...

  • The power of Steve compels you... to buy a new iPhone.
  • by Chrisq ( 894406 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:06AM (#36883936)
    Apple marketing department: Bend over ... this will be a pleasant surprise
    Apple fanboi: Yes please
    • Apple marketing department: Bend over ... this will be a pleasant surprise
      Apple fanboi: Yes please

      The next day...

      Slashdot: More Malicious Android Apps Pulled from MarketPlace
      Android Fanboy: At least list which ones!! Oh, and.. uh.. we should do damage control. At least we're free to bypass the store to download these apps!

      Fanboys are stupid, faces on stun.

    • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:55AM (#36884762)

      It isn't as much that we follow and bend to Fanboism from Apples marketing department. It is more the fact we really haven't had any real negative experience with Apple products vs. Other companies...

      I have had some products and phones in the past that after I used them I put on my list not to use that company again, unless they have really changed their way...
      Motorola, Compaq/HP, Gateway, Chrysler, GE Appliances...

      Then there are companies that I have had overall good experiences with.
      LG, Samsung, Apple, Toyota, Lenovo...
      So I would buy from them again without having such a critical eye.

      Now it is up to those companies that I had good experience with to prove me wrong. And the ones I have a bad experience with they really need to prove that they are much better then before.

      Apple has consistently offered a quality product which I have been happy with, and was useful. Not to say Apple product was the best product but it is a safe bet that I will be happy with it.

  • Moreover, 69 percent of consumers indicated that they would prefer Apple’s iPhone 5 as a gift.

    So jewelery and watches are replaced by iPhone. Buyers do not care about how many megapixels has iPhone5 camera, which OS is installed, 3G or 4G... It's just important to have the Apple logo on the device.

    • if you think the right way to pick a phone is to add up all the numbered features and then take the phone with the highest total.

      Apple customers really don't care about the logo, they care that it is a solidly engineered appliance.

      • by dokc ( 1562391 )
        No, I just wanted to say that 69% of participants in the survey will give iPhones to someone else and they do not care abut anything related to the phone specifications. They do not care about solidly engineered appliance, they do not care about all the features.
        They care only about the logo.
        • because there is now quite a bit of historical evidence of Apple building high-quality, well-engineered products. I can understand why that would be perplexing to you (a) don't mind fiddling with technology to get it to work, and (b) don't understand technology well enough to appreciate good engineering.

    • Style is important, most geeks do not comprehend that. Sure the tech specs are good, but it comes down to, Do I have a device that make me look professional or a cheap plastic toy that makes me look like I am still a teenager.

  • SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

  • by Super Dave Osbourne ( 688888 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:15AM (#36884080)
    The masses are hooked on mediocrity in functionality, but will buy anything looking Gucci. Apple may become the first Trillion dollar valuation company in the world based on this kind of blind consumer interest.
    • No they would be the first company to reach a trillion dollar valuation. That title goes to PetroChina [latimes.com] which did it in 2007. When doing a Google search it it looks like lots of people think apple may reach a trillion dollar valuation, but how much of that would be speculation (like it was for PetroChina) and how much would be blind faith (the apple fanboi).
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by alta ( 1263 )

      All the android people come out screaming about all their advanced features and how they're always ahead of apple. But what they don't do is come out screaming about the high quality of their phones. I've got an ORIGINAL iphone. My wife has a 4. I also have a company supplied Galaxy S, and we've both had blackberries. As far as features, the android phones always win. As for quality, dependability, stability, etc the iphones always win. Blackberry used to have that wrapped up, but they've fallen beh

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:15AM (#36884090)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by JazzHarper ( 745403 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:19AM (#36884172) Journal

    I'm surprised that the percentage wasn't higher.

  • "The figure comes from an online survey of 3,000 US consumers by Experian's PriceGrabber shopping website"
  • I'm one of the folks who's probably going to buy it sight unseen. I could care less about if someone else things I'm affluent because I have an iPhone 5, or if I'm "trendy" because of it, or anything else. And just because it's got an Apple logo in the middle of the back doesn't mean it's worth it's weight in gold either.

    I'm still using a 3GS, and after two years it's starting to get a little beaten up - the screen isn't cracked or deeply scratched, but it's got a few pits here and there, etc. I was going to upgrade to a 4, but I decided to skip a generation since we're so close to the release of the 5. And, since once of the reasons I wanted the 4 was a improvement in the camera over the 3GS (which I use a lot), I figure the 5's camera will more likely than not be slightly better.

    Which brings me to the question: how may of of the 35% mentioned are people who decided to skip a generation because there wasn't a compelling reason to upgrade to a 4, but about the time the 5 rolls around their 3G or 3GS is due for a replacement?
     

  • We've passed the tipping point [slashdot.org].

  • They should rename it to iPhone 6 a month after launch. A lot of people would buy it again.

  • Okay this is just bullshit. First, this is not news for nerds, this is news for:

    1) Apple Fanbois to thump their chest on
    2) Android Fanbois to fires of their hatred of anything Apple
    3) Business Marketroids, who are most definitely not nerds

    Obviously I have to start voting with my eyeballs and look to some other site for quality news. There's nothing of substance in an article like this, it's just flamebait for all the Apple-Android flame wars.

    But just to answer all three groups and point out my utter annoyance with all of them:

    1) Just because you are popular doesn't mean you have the best product. Doesn't mean you don't, but "everyone else is buying it" is a top fallacy that everyone needs to stop using as a badge of honor.
    2) I love how you point out 35% of people are [stupid/easy to fool/lambs to the slaughter/insert overdone cliche] and then out of the other side of your mouth point out how Android phones are more popular in volume than Apple phones. To those of you who do, see #1 and stop thinking you are somehow better than Apple fanbois because you are not, you are 100% just like them.
    3) You are not nerds, get off this site so the nerds can mod these stories into oblivion. /rant

    • Many, many moons ago (see my UID), this was a site founded about open source (with emphasis on Linux), science, and technology (with emphasis on IT). It was good, and attracted many interesting and smart people. The articles weren't always the best, but you could read comments from people who were knowledgeable in their field, and learn about really cool things you otherwise would never hear about.

      But then, MS started to astroturf, and with popularity came misinformed bigots and those ignorant of science an

  • by dmomo ( 256005 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:52AM (#36884720)

    No. Not 35% of consumers. 35% of people who filled out the survey. There is no qualification of the sample in the article. Who knows how they were chosen?

    35% seems shockingly high. Shockingly convenient for a who-the-heck-are-you website that could really get attention.

  • by AC-x ( 735297 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @10:58AM (#36884836)

    ... and actually doing it. How many of those 35% that responded will actually go out and buy one as soon as it comes out? Not many I'd suspect, even if only because most will still be bound by contracts etc.

  • by tompaulco ( 629533 ) on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @12:42PM (#36886174) Homepage Journal
    I'm in the 35% that wants the iphone 5 to be an unseen sight.

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