As many as a third of iPhone owners may mistakenly believe that they own a “4G” handset, according to a new survey. Retrovo’s latest Gadgetology Report found that 34 percent of iPhone owners reported that they “already own one” when asked if they were planning to purchase a 4G-capable handset this year. Notably, however, 40 percent of current iPhone owners said they will buy the next iPhone even if it doesn’t have 4G, followed by 21 percent who said they would consider it; by comparison, these numbers were eight percent and 12 percent for Android owners, and 23 percent and 18 percent for BlackBerry owners, respectively. The survey was based on a sample size of more than 1,000 people “distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States.”
One third of iPhone owners think they’re on 4G?
10 comments
The interesting thing is that for the average user and how they use their iPhone, I wonder how many would actually notice the difference between a good 3G connection and actual 4G technology.
I know that many AT&T users are saddled with less than desirable data performance, but I’ve found my practical 3G performance here in Canada to be comparable to my Wi-Fi performance. Technically speaking, my Wi-Fi network performs at about four to five times the speed of my 3G connection (25mbps vs ~5mbps), but for even the most demanding things that I do on my iPhone and iPad, there is no practical difference.
My guess is they were confusing the 4G network capability with the 4th Generation of the iPhone.
I agree with Don. The wording of the question should have clarified “4th Generation” vs “4 G connectivity” in order to avoid confusion.
@2: yep!
The interesting thing is that for the average user and how they use their iPhone, I wonder how many would actually notice the difference between a good 3G connection and actual 4G technology.
I know that many AT&T users are saddled with less than desirable data performance, but I’ve found my practical 3G performance here in Canada to be comparable to my Wi-Fi performance. Technically speaking, my Wi-Fi network performs at about four to five times the speed of my 3G connection (25mbps vs ~5mbps), but for even the most demanding things that I do on my iPhone and iPad, there is no practical difference.
My guess is they were confusing the 4G network capability with the 4th Generation of the iPhone.
Statistics like this are meaningless — are we to conclude that iPhone owners are more likely to be clueless about what 4G means? Sure, there are plenty of iPhone owners who think their iPhone 4 is 4G, but Android owners aren’t far behind (29 vs. 34%) and likely close to the statistical variation you’d expect for a sample size of 1000 people. BB owners [i]might[/i] tend to be a little more tech- or business-savvy and have a better understanding of 3G vs. 4G, but these numbers demonstrate very little.
The other figures, in response to “would you buy/consider the next gen iPhone even if it wasn’t 4G” aren’t surprising either. Existing iPhone owners are much more likely to be repeat customers as compared to current Android or BB owners [i]switching over[/i] to an iPhone.
I agree with Don. The wording of the question should have clarified “4th Generation” vs “4 G connectivity” in order to avoid confusion.
@2: yep!
Statistics like this are meaningless — are we to conclude that iPhone owners are more likely to be clueless about what 4G means? Sure, there are plenty of iPhone owners who think their iPhone 4 is 4G, but Android owners aren’t far behind (29 vs. 34%) and likely close to the statistical variation you’d expect for a sample size of 1000 people. BB owners [i]might[/i] tend to be a little more tech- or business-savvy and have a better understanding of 3G vs. 4G, but these numbers demonstrate very little.
The other figures, in response to “would you buy/consider the next gen iPhone even if it wasn’t 4G” aren’t surprising either. Existing iPhone owners are much more likely to be repeat customers as compared to current Android or BB owners [i]switching over[/i] to an iPhone.