AT&T's service is still proving to be an obstacle for new iPhone buyers, according to a small survey conducted by PriceGrabber.com.
PriceGrabber, which operates a price-comparison site for online shopping, said it conducted a poll of 2,411 respondents between June 12 and July 10, asking them about why those consumers have chosen to wait to buy the iPhone 3GS. About 10 percent of those polled already owned one of the versions of the iPhone, PriceGrabber reported.
Roughly a third of those polled blamed AT&T for their decision not to switch over, although why they disliked AT&T wasn't apparently called out. The network provider has been criticized, however, for its dropped calls and spotty coverage.
During Apple's conference call announcing another record quarter, however, chief operating officer Tim Cook said the relationship with AT&T was strong. "We have an excellent relationship with them and we're very happy with it," he said.
One reason for not purchasing the iPhone 3GS that PriceGrabber failed to turn up was a simple lack of them. Apple executives also revealed that the iPhone 3GS is supply-constrained; they weren't able to predict when those supply constraints would end.
Some sample questions from the survey after the jump.
When, if at all, are you planning to purchase the new Apple iPhone 3GS available in US stores on June 19, 2009?
80.84% I am not planning to purchase the Apple iPhone 3GS
13.73% I plan to purchase the iPhone 3GS sometime in the next 12 months
1.66% As soon as it is available
Why are you WAITING to purchase the Apple iPhone 3GS? (Select all that apply)
60.60% I am waiting for the price to come down
44.64% I want to be sure there are no iPhone 3GS hardware problems
29.93% I want to be sure there are no 3.0 software problems
21.95% I do not want to deal with the crowds at the stores
Why are you NOT purchasing the iPhone 3GS? (Select all that apply)
53.45% I am satisfied with the phone I currently own
34.32% I do not want to switch to the AT&T service provider
31.47% It is still too expensive
19.49% I am not interested in the features or applications
12.80% If other reason, please specify here: </p>
More...
July 22, 2009 1:40 PM
Curious. Am I the exception?
I've had AT&T since it was Cingular - I had an HTC Wizard (Cingular 8125) replaced under warranty - but never a problem with the service - not one. I was even able to upgrade my line to the 3GS, and give my 4GB 1st Gen to my wife - and that went without a hitch...
I've also had Comcast as my ISP since 2001 - in that time, I've had two cable modems blow up after 21-30,000 hours of continuous use (not unreasonable, really)), and three unannounced maintenance windows. Other than that, that service (from another hated provider) has been flawless.
Am I perhaps unusually lucky?
July 22, 2009 2:31 PM
At our office we switched from Cellular South to AT&T to get the iPhone 3GS only to find out it will not communicate with Outlook through our AT&T DSL modem. Now we have to purchase a firewall device (to the tune of $1,000)in order to resolve the problem. Very upsetting! Of course, we were told by our rep. that none of their other customers have had this problem. Come on now.....
July 22, 2009 3:23 PM
The heading could have read "66 percent would buy iphone becuase of AT&T". Not a bad number!
July 22, 2009 4:36 PM
@ Ming S...The data does not in any way support saying that 66% would buy an iPhone because of AT&T.
July 22, 2009 7:10 PM
The best thing in cell phones was Cingular ! Never a dropped call,always got my calls and was able to make calls. AT&T took over,and as expected, my best thing was fast turning to shit ? No longer can I receve calls ,nor make them from inside my home ? YAH ! Thay said that I was in the higest signal area, and that because my home has aluminum siding,its blocking the signals ?? Well I have a metal building on my property that my phone works well in! Ive been thinking of moving to the back yard !
July 25, 2009 10:31 PM
Despite being a cell phone customer of AT&T since it was originally AT&T in 1989, AT&T still wants to charge me a penalty for changing to a iPhone before my contract expires in Sept. I think I'll consider Sprint's Palm Pre instead.
August 11, 2009 1:47 PM
I recently went to an AT&T store to see about an upgrade to an Iphone for both me and my husband. Not only could I not do it, they told me it would be an extra $200 for the upgrade. Now the way I see it, I would be signing a new 2 year contract with AT&T so why would I need to pay $200 on top of the price of the phone just because I wanted to do an upgrade. I'm really not impressed with any of AT&T's smart phones. I currently have a Blackberry but wanted something with a touch screen. This just really p***ed me off!