One in four look to iPhone

Apple's iPhone may revolutionize both the consumer and business smartphone market--with more than one in four consumers indicating that are interested in purchasing the iPhone. The iPhone, which one CEO believes may double smartphone sales, is one of the two leading devices for smartphone buyers, according to a recent survey. While Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (33%) holds a small lead over Palm (29%) in consumer market share of smartphones, Apple has already influenced would-be-purchasers. "In a startling finding, our April consumer survey shows one-in-four (26%) potential smart phone purchasers say they’ll opt for the iPhone – immediately catapulting Apple into a first place tie with industry leader Research in Motion (26%)," ChangeWave announced on Thursday.

Although reports indicate that Apple and its partner AT&T may not offer corporate discounts, ChangeWave's survey also shows similar trends in the business market: Apple's iPhone is set to become a force in the corporate market with nearly 10 percent of those planning on purchasing new devices in the third quarter saying that that they plan to buy the iPhone.

Even before sales have begun, ChangeWave predicts some big changes in the market. The data show that Apple's iPhone may displace smaller players in the market, despite some reservations about the lack of a tactile keyboard. Apple's iPhone use a touch interface that some claim may not be suitable for business users and heavy email use.

While corporate demand for the iPhone may be high, the Cupertino-based company will face some pushback from IT departments because the device does not integrate well into existing corporate infrastructure. Earlier this month, a report indicated that Apple may resort to licensing to obtain the necessary integration technology from players such as Microsoft and RIM.

ChangeWave analysts believe that RIM will continue to hold strong in the business market, but that Apple's will gain share at the expensive of Palm and other smaller handset manufacturers; the survey showed slight declines in across all manufacturers, but Palm and Motorola appeared to be affected the most and are in danger of losing marketshare, the analyst say.

"Similar to the consumer side, Apple’s future gains do not appear like they’ll take a bite out of RIM’s corporate market share (26%; down 1-pt), but do appear set to hurt Palm (19%; down 3-pts) and Motorola (16%; down 3-pts)," ChangeWave analysts said in their release.

by MacNN Staff