Study Puts iPhone in Class by Itself

New Compete, Inc. Study Draws Insights from Actual Consumer Behavior Online

Compete, Inc., a leading web analytics company, today released an in-depth study revealing what consumer online shopping and browsing behavior suggests about the iPhone’s impact on the consumer market. The study, which was released on a panel this morning at the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment convention, includes data on wireless device demand, pre-purchase cross-shopping patterns and consumer attitudes toward entertainment and productivity oriented devices.

The Compete data is drawn from the browsing and shopping behavior of a panel of millions of consumers. Key findings on iPhone and smartphone shoppers include:

• Measured by consumer interest, the iPhone was the biggest handset launch ever. The iPhone drew 20 times more interest than the average phone launch, and drew higher volumes of shoppers than either the Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii at the height of their respective launches.
• Consumers evaluating iPhone are only one-half as likely as the average wireless consumer to cross shop other phones.
• More than 50 percent of Palm and Windows Mobile smartphones users rely on their devices primarily for personal use.
• Consumers of advanced wireless devices find Web or Internet access (68 percent) the most important feature on smartphones, and are least interested in mobile TV (17 percent).

“The iPhone represents an important milestone in the evolution of consumer attitudes and behavior towards advanced wireless devices and services,” said Adam Guy, Compete’s general manager of telecommunications and media. “As the mass market continues to adopt increasingly advanced technologies, players throughout the wireless value chain will find new opportunities to offer dynamic and flexible products.”

Editor’s Note: For comments from the panelists, on both the panel discussion and research results, or for more information about the iPhone and smartphone data, contact Gretchen Bender at (617) 275-6526, or gbender@greenoughcom.com.

About Compete, Inc.
Compete helps the world’s top brands improve their marketing based on the online behavior of millions of consumers. Leading marketers such as Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Hyundai Motor America, Upromise, DaimlerChrysler, and Verizon Wireless rely on Compete’s services to create effective online experiences and highly profitable advertising campaigns. Compete’s online behavior database – the largest in the industry – makes the web as engrained in marketing as it is in people’s lives.

Compete was founded in 2000 and is located in Boston, MA, with offices throughout the U.S. For more information about us, please visit http://www.competeinc.com/, or to join the conversation visit http://www.compete.com/.