Apple’s iPhone losing edge in Asia: survey
Has iPhone 5 delivered? (Photo courtesy of Blackbox Research)
Nearly one in five
Asians who were early iPhone buyers said the phone has failed to meet their
expectations.
But at the same time,
28 per cent of buyers said the new iPhone 5 has surpassed their expectations.
These are among some
of the findings by independent research company Blackbox
Research in Singapore and AIP in Japan, which surveyed 12,000
adults across 12 Asian countries last month.
Blackbox Managing
Director, David Black, said, "Apple has definitely lost a little of its
gloss and it will be interesting to see how they respond in what is now an
increasingly competitive category. Remember what happened to Nokia when
everyone thought they were unstoppable. "
The survey also found
that 39 per cent of Asians feel that Apple is paling in comparison to other
brands in the smartphone category.
When surveyed on the
next brand of phone they would buy, respondents were evenly split between Apple
and Samsung, the former garnering 37 per cent and the latter, 35 per cent. 28
per cent opted for other brands.
Black added,
"The survey results really demonstrate why both Apple and Samsung have
thrown so much into their legal and PR battles this year. The smartphone battle
in Asia is now incredibly fierce with both brands winning battlegrounds in
different parts of Asia and running neck to neck in others."
Here in Asia, Black
said the iPhone seems to be a more popular choice for Japanese and Thai
consumers, while South Koreans, Malaysians and Indians were more keen on a new
Samsung handset.
Consumers in Hong
Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines were far more divided with solid
support for both major brands.
Just on Thursday,
another research firm Strategy Analytics reported that Samsung's Galaxy S3 became the world's best-selling
smartphone model last quarter, pushing aside the iPhone, which has
dominated the chart for more than two years.
It estimated Samsung
sold 18 million S3 models in the third quarter, compared with iPhone 4S sales
of 16.2 million.
Consumers reflect their intentions to purchase their next new
iPhone. (Photo courtesy of Blackbox Research)
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