Infinite Loop / The Apple Ecosystem

Study: Consumers ditching landlines for iPhone, other smartphones

The iPhone is designed to do a few specific things well, but a new study …

The iPhone is arguably a jack of many trades that does most of them well, but a new study from Consumer Insights suggests that many American consumers are adding "landline replacement" to their list of favorite iPhone features.

Funded by mobile phone retailer Wireless Toyz, MacNN reports the study found a significant boost in sales of feature-rich wireless handsets like the BlackBerry, Treo, Q and Chocolate. The iPhone is apparently leading the pack according to the study (though iSuppli likely disagrees), primarily due to its rich (though not outdone) feature set finally striking a chord with consumers. As to why the iPhone is getting nods for finally getting through to consumers, our guess is that it could be due to the way the phone has been presented and advertised; after all, when was the last time you saw a mobile phone ad that featured nothing but a hand actually using various features of the phone?

Considering how the home phone industry has not exactly innovated much in the midst of the exploding mobile phone industry, we aren't entirely surprised to see feature-packed mobile phones inspiring even more consumers to give their landline telcos the boot. The mobile phone industry is maturing and so are the handsets, offering more powerful features, (arguably) polished UIs, and an expanding army of services with which to accessorize. "Kuperstein" of Wireless Toyz also highlights the fact that this new interest in powerful mobile phones signifies a shift in consumer interest from cost to features when purchasing a mobile phone, which is exactly the kind of customer Apple designs for. The iPhone may never have survived even a couple years ago, in the age when free phones and multi-colored, flashing neon light batteries reigned supreme with consumers.

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