WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Consumer-oriented functionality smartphones score best according to The CFI Group Smartphone Satisfaction Study, Smartphones, Providers, and the Customers Who Love (and Loathe) Them. The study found little relationship between smartphone satisfaction and satisfaction with the provider while the iPhone bested other smartphones for customer satisfaction while Android smartphone user were the heaviest web surfers.

Using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index to compare smartphone platforms:

1. The iPhone is the undisputed leader in customer satisfaction, scoring 83 on a 100-point scale, 8% higher than its nearest competitors.
2. Android and the Palm Pre (77) came in second in satisfaction.
   
3.  Research In Motion's BlackBerry (73) was third.
   
4.  Palm's Treo (70) came in forth.
   
5. others" category, which includes Symbian and Windows Mobile, scored 66.

1. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile tie in overall provider satisfaction, scoring 79.
   
2. Sprint scores 74.
   
3. AT&T's non-iPhone smartphone customers score 73,.
   
4. AT&T iPhone users rate AT&T 69.

The majority of new smartphone owners are using them for mostly personal use, a departure from the early adopters that originally used smartphones primarily for business. This new customer audience has much higher expectations of the smartphone, and the platforms that satisfy these needs rate the highest. Newer smartphones, with their better web browsers and applications, also encourage more network use. Web surfing tops the list of used features, especially for Android.

In addition to being the best in satisfaction, the Phone has the most loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations. Ninety-two percent of current iPhone respondents say they have their ideal phone, 90 percent have recommended the phone, and 35 percent said they purchased their phone because of a recommendation. Also, the iPhone is the most popular alternative to any other smartphone.

But competition is catching up, and Android and Pre are the most competitive with the iPhone, according to the study. What these platforms have in common is the ability to deliver consumer-oriented activities, like apps, an easy web-browsing experience, and multi-media playback. Business-oriented smartphones, like Treo and early generation BlackBerrys, are falling behind, whereas "generic" smartphones that run Symbian and Windows Mobile are not even on the radar.

The study examined the relationship between satisfaction with the smartphone and satisfaction with the provider and found that little correlation exists. The iPhone, which is by far the leader in smartphone satisfaction, has done little to help AT&T's customer satisfaction among smartphone owners.

Verizon is the ideal provider for 86 percent of smartphone users surveyed, yet only 38 percent of Verizon smartphone customers say their current phone is their ideal smartphone, the lowest percentage of any provider. Verizon has none of the most satisfying smartphones but still maintains a leadership position in satisfaction on the perceived strength of its network.

For AT&T, the opposite is true. It has the most satisfying smartphone but lags in provider satisfaction, in part because of its network problems associated with its iPhone customers' overwhelming data use.

AT&T's exclusive iPhone arrangement with Apple has been a double-edged sword. While it acquired millions of new customers, half of iPhone respondents said they would like to defect to another provider. Forty percent of iPhone users surveyed switched providers to get the phone, and these customers may be dragging down AT&T's satisfaction score. In fact, iPhone customers that switched providers to get the device rated AT&T 64, which is well behind iPhone users who did not switch, which rated AT&T 72.