Consumers Rate Smartphone Brands Significantly Higher Than the Tier 1 Mobile Operators

iGR Research, a a market strategy consultancy with a focus on the wireless and mobile communications industry, recently conducted a survey. In March 2013, iGR wanted to find out what subscribers thought about their current use of mobile phones and wireless technologies.

In this endeavor, they questioned over 1,000 subscribers. iGR specifically wanted to know about subscribers’ mobile phone and tablet brands. The follow-up was how they used their devices. What were the activities that they used their smartphones for and how did they typically use their tablets? More importantly, they asked consumers how likely they would be to recommend their particular device.

Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR Research, said, "In this survey, iGR used a net promoter score as a way to rate the smartphone and tablet brands. Through this method, we found that there is a wide range of consumer satisfaction with devices and that market share and consumer satisfaction are not always the same. We also found that U.S. consumers give their devices a much higher score than they give the mobile operators that provide the cellular service for these devices."

This study bought out some interesting results. A majority of users gave the major smartphone brands much higher scores than the operators. Smartphone brands got a net promoter score that was just about 60 percent higher than the best score for the tier 1 mobile operator.

Also interesting is that when these scores were compared to the lowest scoring tier 1 operators, the major smartphone brands still had a net promoter score that almost five time higher. Interestingly, the two major smartphone OEMs scored considerably lower net promoter scores than their competitors.

If you want to see all of the results and the answers to the following questions that iGR asked in their survey:

• What mobile phone brands are used by U.S. consumers?
• What is the Net Promoter Score for each major mobile phone brand?
• What is the Net Promoter Score for the Apple and Android smartphone platforms?
• For what activities do U.S. consumers typically use their smartphones?
• What smartphone screen size do U.S. consumers prefer?
• What are the tablet brands of the surveyed U.S. consumers?
• What is the Net Promoter Score for each major tablet brand?
• What type of connectivity do U.S. consumers have on their tablets and how do they typically access the Internet when they are at home or on the go?
• How important is it for U.S. consumers to have their tablet on the same platform as their smartphone?
• How do demographic variables, such as age, gender, and marital status relate to U.S. consumers' perceptions of their mobile phone and tablet?

You can download (after purchasing it) by going to their website and clicking on the report.