Infinite Loop / The Apple Ecosystem

Study: iPhone hurting T-Mobile, Treos

A new iPhone report from the NPD Group suggests that the device may be hurting …

Ever since the launch of the iPhone, analysts have been trying to figure out just what the device will do to the industry. Carriers have been trying to deduce what the iPhone will do to their business too. An early report suggested that the iPhone was poaching customers from other carriers, and now a recent report from the NPD Group is confirming that the iPhone is indeed attracting customers away.

In the new iPhone Report, NPD names both manufacturers and carriers that are losing out to the iPhone. Based on some quite extensive surveys done in the past 30 days, both Treos and Sidekicks lost out to the iPhone, with iPhone buyers being ten times more likely to have owned an Treo than an average cell phone buyer. Blackberrys seem to be fairly immune to the iPhone thus far, since iPhone buyers are no more likely to have owned a Blackberry than any other phone buyers.

When it comes to carriers, AT&T has been pinching the most customers from Alltel and T-Mobile, but has also gained some Sprint and Verizon customers too. The cause of the migrations is the iPhone's media capabilities, which Alltel and T-Mobile lack when compared to AT&T. Sprint and Verizon already have some media offerings, and thus may be a bit more insulated from the iPhone.

Overall, the NPD numbers suggest the iPhone is having an effect, although not necessarily a large one. There are new ChangeWave numbers coming later this week as well, so between the two sources, we should have a pretty good idea of just how much other carriers need to worry about Apple's new device. 

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