Marketing and all things related

Today, Changewave released the results of a research study of cell phone purchase intent and satisfaction for both cell phones, themselves, and cellular service providers.  As you'd expect, Changewave learned that there is a significant shift in people moving up from a standard cell phone to a smart phone with Apple's iPhone leading the pack followed by the Research-in-Motion (RIM) BlackBerry.

Of the 4,182 consumers surveyed by Changewave in January for this study, just 23% said they plan to buy a new cell phone in the next six months, but 17% say they'll buy an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and 15% say they'll buy a RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry. 

The most interesting findings in the study related to customer satisfaction.  Take a look at the chart below, which shows the results for cell phone satisfaction by manufacturer.

That's a significant difference in satisfaction between Apple customers and everyone else.  And of course, the difference in satisfaction between the two big smart phone providers (Apple and RIM) and everyone else is also significant, as you'd expect given the shift in buying pattern from traditional cell phones to smart phones described above.

Also of interest is the satisfaction among customers for their cell phone carriers.  Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) leads the pack with 47% of customers saying they're satisfied in this study.  AT&T (NYSE: T) came in second with 30% of customers saying they're satisfied.  These results are astonishingly poor.  If these are the top two cell phone carriers in terms of customer satisfaction, then something is very wrong with this industry.  It's unacceptable that customer satisfaction could be allowed to be so low.  If a cell phone carrier decided to prioritize customer satisfaction and truly separate itself from the pack by delivering phenomenal service, I bet customers would follow (and become very loyal, something that currently doesn't exist in the cell phone service market).

Finally, 25% of respondents who plan to switch cell phone carriers in the next six months, say they'll switch to AT&T.  Although the study doesn't specify why those customers will change to AT&T, one can only assume the Apple iPhone is the reason (remember, if you want an iPhone, you have to use AT&T as your carrier).

So what do you think about all of this.  As I said before, I'm disheartened by the satisfaction results.  It seems like such an opportunity, but no one is stepping up to take it.