Mixed Statistics For iPhone 4

It’s no secret that the iPhone 4 has been selling better than hotcakes. As of today, it will be 3 weeks shipping time on Apple’s online store. With the web publicized “issues” surrounding its release, some hard data (as Steve Jobs would call it), has been released courtesy of Change Wave Research. So lets take a look, shall we?

72% of iPhone 4 owners say they are Very Satisfied, while another 21% stated they were Somewhat Satisfied. For the mathematically challenged, that’s 93% giving a favorable rating of the new iDevice. How does this compare to the 3GS you ask? Well, 82% went with Very Satisfied, while 17% said Somewhat Satisfied, totaling a 99% favorable opinion. On the cuff you could say that the iPhone 4 fell a bit short, however it’s pretty tough to go anywhere but down from 99%.

When it comes to the features most and least like, this writer wasn’t what you’d call surprised. Topping out the most liked features, an overwhelming 49% went with the Retina Display screen resolution. The 5 Megapixel camera/flash, and touch screen interface came in 2nd and 3rd, with 31 and 30 percent. The iPhone 4’s most advertised new feature, FaceTime, gathered just 15% of the vote, but since the feature has limited abilities right now, its understandable.

I bet you’re thinking that the antenna walked about with top spot among the dislikes list, aren’t you? Wrong. The exclusivity to AT&T topped the dismayed category, with a 27% total. AT&T’s coverage, speed, quality and 3G came in 2nd, with 24%. Then at 3rd comes the media frenzied antenna blunder. Over half (51%) of the top ranked problems are AT&T related. That’s outrageous, anyway you spin it folks.

As far as reception and dropped calls go, (which came in 4th of the dislike list with 23%), two-thirds (66%) of iPhone 4 users say they Haven’t Experienced ANY issues. Another 14% claim It isn’t much of a problem. That’s 80% basically stating that it’s not affecting them. 14% voted that it was Somewhat of a Problem, and bottoming out the tally was the 7% who announced it was A Very Big Problem. How about Apple’s response to the issue? Almost identically, 3/4 were Satisfied, while 1/5 were not. It would be safe to assume that the few who had problems stayed angry, from start to finish.

The last set of figures is basically what makes you wonder if the opinions about the antenna/dropped calls, were influenced by the hysteria that came with it. iPhone 4 users have reported a better percentage of dropped calls, that those of the 3GS. Just 5.2% have reported a single dropped call on the new device, compared to 6.3% of their 3GS counterparts. I’m sure the antagonists will spin those numbers in a variety of ways, however if the stats went the other way, you can bet they’d be left alone.

So what does all this mean? In reality, not much. The iPhone 4 continues to best all its competition, both in performance and in sales. It’s matching up admirably to the near perfect ratings of its little brother, the iPhone 3GS. One could say, based on these numbers, the only people who don’t like the iPhone 4 are those who don’t use one. It’s true everyone has an opinion about these findings, and we at iDB would love to hear yours in the comment section. What say you?