Engineering Lifestyle
Comment
Frank Eory
2 million pre-orders in 24 hours, and analysts are predicting anywhere from 3 to ...
emmsys
Regardless of what surveys, bloggers and Android users say about the new iPhone ...
Survey claims over half of Americans 'disappointed' by iPhone 5
Sylvie Barak
9/13/2012 7:59 PM EDT
It has not even been 24 hours since Apple released its latest iteration of the now iconic iPhone, yet according to flash polls and several press releases cluttering up my inbox, “over half of Americans are ‘disappointed’ with the iPhone5,” and believe it brings “nothing new” to consumers.
I’m not exaggerating. That’s an actual headline from a survey conducted by a coupon website, CouponCodes4u, based on the answers of 1,135 Americans all of whom own at least one Apple product.
So, not quite the true representation of the entire American public, but why let that get in the way of an eye-catching email subject?
[ARM TechCon 2012, the largest ARM design ecosystem under one roof, is Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 in Santa Clara. Click here to learn more]
Most rational people might feel alarmed that “half” the American public could feel so incredibly irked over a rectangular piece of brushed aluminum with an RF receiver in it, rather than, say, the economy, the slow painful demise of education, or even global terror. But you could argue that wasn’t a fair apples to apples comparison, and you’d be right.
As silly as the poll and ensuing deductions based on it may be, the results are still worthy of a mention, even if they do just apply to a tiny subset of already Apple-owning hipsters.
Apparently, respondents were initially asked whether or not they owned an iPhone, to which a whopping 79 percent replied “yes,” while 15 percent said they did not own one, but “were interested” in purchasing one. Just six percent of those polled said they did not own the gadget.
Of those who already owned an iPhone, 68 percent owned the last model, the 4S, 23 percent had an iPhone 4, and just eight percent owned a 3GS. So hardly your typical cross section of the American public, but I wouldn’t want to nitpick.
According to CouponCodes4u’s ‘research’, when consumers were asked whether or not they were impressed with yesterday’s iphone 5 release, 57 percent said “no”, 31 percent said “yes” and 12 percent admitted that they were “indifferent.”
Of those who were unimpressed, 81 percent blamed their disappointment on a dead guy, saying the whole thing “felt strange without Steve Jobs”, while a lesser 32 percent based their disenchantment on the product saying they felt “there was nothing new.”
Despite the new model coming with a faster processor, larger screen, bigger battery, LTE support and a better camera, a sizeable 57 percent of respondents said they were “disappointed” with the finished phone, though 39 percent said it “exceeded their expectations.”
The new 9-pin USB phone connector seems to be the reason for much of the selective hipster ire, while 26 percent seemed irritated by the smaller “Nano-styled SIM card,” and 21 percent felt significant existential angst over the lack of plans or updates concerning a future release date for the 128GB iPhone5.
Not that any of this pent up frustration seemed to act as much of a deterrent, with 45 percent of those flash polled emphatically insisting they would be purchasing the phone on its release date at the end of September. Only 34 percent hedged their bets and said they “were unsure.” 21 percent said they were not going to purchase the phone, purportedly due to “lack of innovation,” but more probably because they were still locked into lengthy, expensive two year contracts.
Next: Spoiled children
I’m not exaggerating. That’s an actual headline from a survey conducted by a coupon website, CouponCodes4u, based on the answers of 1,135 Americans all of whom own at least one Apple product.
So, not quite the true representation of the entire American public, but why let that get in the way of an eye-catching email subject?
[ARM TechCon 2012, the largest ARM design ecosystem under one roof, is Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 in Santa Clara. Click here to learn more]
Most rational people might feel alarmed that “half” the American public could feel so incredibly irked over a rectangular piece of brushed aluminum with an RF receiver in it, rather than, say, the economy, the slow painful demise of education, or even global terror. But you could argue that wasn’t a fair apples to apples comparison, and you’d be right.
As silly as the poll and ensuing deductions based on it may be, the results are still worthy of a mention, even if they do just apply to a tiny subset of already Apple-owning hipsters.
Apparently, respondents were initially asked whether or not they owned an iPhone, to which a whopping 79 percent replied “yes,” while 15 percent said they did not own one, but “were interested” in purchasing one. Just six percent of those polled said they did not own the gadget.
Of those who already owned an iPhone, 68 percent owned the last model, the 4S, 23 percent had an iPhone 4, and just eight percent owned a 3GS. So hardly your typical cross section of the American public, but I wouldn’t want to nitpick.
According to CouponCodes4u’s ‘research’, when consumers were asked whether or not they were impressed with yesterday’s iphone 5 release, 57 percent said “no”, 31 percent said “yes” and 12 percent admitted that they were “indifferent.”
Of those who were unimpressed, 81 percent blamed their disappointment on a dead guy, saying the whole thing “felt strange without Steve Jobs”, while a lesser 32 percent based their disenchantment on the product saying they felt “there was nothing new.”
Despite the new model coming with a faster processor, larger screen, bigger battery, LTE support and a better camera, a sizeable 57 percent of respondents said they were “disappointed” with the finished phone, though 39 percent said it “exceeded their expectations.”
The new 9-pin USB phone connector seems to be the reason for much of the selective hipster ire, while 26 percent seemed irritated by the smaller “Nano-styled SIM card,” and 21 percent felt significant existential angst over the lack of plans or updates concerning a future release date for the 128GB iPhone5.
Not that any of this pent up frustration seemed to act as much of a deterrent, with 45 percent of those flash polled emphatically insisting they would be purchasing the phone on its release date at the end of September. Only 34 percent hedged their bets and said they “were unsure.” 21 percent said they were not going to purchase the phone, purportedly due to “lack of innovation,” but more probably because they were still locked into lengthy, expensive two year contracts.
Next: Spoiled children
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
David Ashton
9/14/2012 4:29 AM EDT
I hear it needs an adapter for older chargers? BAAAD. Does it fit in existing docks?
That was one nice thing Nokia (remember them??) got right at one point - same chargers, same cradles etc for all their phones. When they stopped doing that, it was the beginning of the end.
Sign in to Reply
Doug S
9/14/2012 1:33 PM EDT
26% were irritated by the smaller SIM? It would be really interesting to hear how this survey was conducted.
If you picked two groups of people at random asked one group their feelings about anything that could be seen as negative (new SIM, new dock connector, larger dimensions, etc.) and the other their feelings about anything that could be seen as positive (LTE, bigger screen, 2x better performance, better battery life, thinner) and after all that asked each group how they felt about it, pretty sure the answers would be quite different.
Not saying this survey was deliberately slanted, but it is strange that they specifically asked people if they were annoyed by the smaller SIM, and fully 1/4 of people were. How is it possible to be annoyed by a SIM? The only thing that annoys me about a SIM is that in 2012 we still require a hardware SIM at all.
Sign in to Reply
LangmuirBlodget
9/14/2012 7:26 PM EDT
It's not that it is smaller, it is that it is different. How many times do you drop your phone in the toilet, then pop out the SIM and snag your spouse's phone for the day?
Can't do that now.
Sign in to Reply
Doug S
9/15/2012 1:50 AM EDT
I've never dropped my phone in the toilet, or otherwise had any problems with any of my phones where I ever wanted to remove my SIM and put it in another phone.
This is the new official SIM standard, not some proprietary Apple thing, so likely in a year or two all new phones will be using this standard.
Sign in to Reply
elektryk321
9/18/2012 5:16 AM EDT
Yes, now it is official standard but smartphones are getting bigger and bigger, and only Apple needs such small SIM-card. Any other Apple competitors use mini-sim size and does not need to use smaller cards. If only Apple uses this standard, this is against customer, because they have problems when swapping cards.
Sign in to Reply
rick.merritt
9/14/2012 1:51 PM EDT
I agree there was no big "Wow!" in the iPhone 5. But I don't think it looked quite so bad as the iPhone 4S when Samsung and LG were announcing LTE handsets with big displays and Apple had neither--just Siri doing her thing.
Apple doesn't want to be on the bleeding edge, but they still need to convince consumers they are cool. It's a tricky line to walk but a little smoke and mirrors marketing helps.
Sign in to Reply
greenlime
9/14/2012 4:03 PM EDT
the same "disappointed" people will buy iPhone5.
Sign in to Reply
vincentchen123
9/16/2012 12:33 AM EDT
hear!hear!hear!
Sign in to Reply
Bert22306
9/14/2012 4:49 PM EDT
Apple foisting another proprietary, or at least non-standard, commector on the adoring public? Not really new.
Completely agree with Sylvie's tone in this piece. One thing, though. I'm not sure if Apple can get away without wowing the faithful on a regular basis. This is very much a fashion-conscious market segment. If you don't maintain that passionate following, even if the passion seems bizarre to the rest of us, the fickle crowd might just start looking elsewhere.
I've been wondering just how much this has been a bit of personality cultism for some time now. The comments about Steve Jobs are revealing.
Sign in to Reply
fbcallicoat
9/14/2012 9:35 PM EDT
"And if consistency, good looking hardware and software that actually works is disappointing to the unwashed masses, well, what can I say...."
That's just it -- the iPhone has lost two of those attributes: software that actually works (have you TRIED Siri?) and now, good looking hardware. Part of the cult of the iPhone is the aesthetics of the design. The iPhone 4 (and identical 4S) are beautiful pieces of industrial design. I'll even go so far as to say they're works of practical art.
The iPhone 5 is a mutant-looking piece of garbage. Just look at the parodies making the rounds today with photos of ridiculously elongated phones (iPhone 10, etc.). There's a reason those jokes are funny -- and it's because iPhone design has lost its way. The iPhone 5 looks weird, it's no longer "good looking."
Android people just don't get it. Maybe it's because they have no sense of taste and so they're satisfied with their plasticky gizmos. Even if the iPhone 4/4S was technically deficient when compared to phones like the Galaxy III S, at least the iPhone was beautiful.
Now? It's still technically inferior (hell, it's inferior to the Galaxy II S - two models back!) and it's FUGLY to boot.
Apple Fail, indeed.
Sign in to Reply
seaEE
9/16/2012 2:02 AM EDT
My guess is that if "the other half" of America buys their product, they will be estatic.
Sign in to Reply
WKetel
9/16/2012 3:57 AM EDT
Many of the remarks are totally shallow, like an ether spill on a hot day. And "hey, its only a phone". From the announcements, it did seem like it would have something new, and perhaps it does have something worthwhile, such as longer battery life or higher speech fidelity, or even better range. But really, why the excitement at all? Its only a phone.
It is obvious that Apple still has all of the marketing skill that they had before, so you do need to give them a lot of credit for that. When was the last time you felt any thrill at the release of a new version of an existing product line?
Sign in to Reply
Bill.Graham
9/17/2012 10:14 AM EDT
I, for one, think the iPhone 5 looks great and I was impressed with the event and the announcements. We live in a very jaded time if such amazing products get such adverse reactions. Despite the spec changes the phone is an amazing piece of engineering, that you cannot deny. Apple leads the way in industrial design (I'd give Nokia a nod here too) and that's primarily the reason I love their products. Re. the connector - they were due for a change from the clunky 30-pin eventually. Even a change to micro-USB would have rendered everyone's accessories incompatible so "ligthning" or not, they coudn't win.
Sign in to Reply
MindTech
9/17/2012 11:28 AM EDT
At least their advertising slogan for the iPhone 5 doesn't make me want to punch a Genius(tm)... as much.
The iPhone 4 (or was it 4S): "This changes everything, again" was maddeningly awful. And totally untrue. The newer "The biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone" is just cringe-worthy.
Sign in to Reply
emmsys
9/18/2012 9:30 AM EDT
Regardless of what surveys, bloggers and Android users say about the new iPhone 5, it is still selling faster than any previous iPhone. Apple has enough money to bail out European countries so they must be doing something right.
Sign in to Reply
Frank Eory
9/18/2012 7:58 PM EDT
2 million pre-orders in 24 hours, and analysts are predicting anywhere from 3 to 10 million iPhone 5 sales over the launch weekend.
No matter what a handful of survey respondents told that global internet juggernaut CouponCodes4U (LOL!), I don't think anyone at Apple is going to be disappointed by the iPhone 5's sales numbers!
Sign in to Reply