My Cellphone My Terms

If you’ve ever contemplated switching banks then you already know it wasn’t an easy decision and chances are – you didn’t.  Despite the frustration or anger or what ever the reasons for thinking so were, the hurdles associated with switching are often to high to make the jump.  But, what about switching smartphones? Well, a study by research company GFK, concluded that switching smartphone platforms is more difficult than switching banks.  Ouch… I cant say I fully agree with that, but no doubt the more Apple products you purchase the deeper you get sucked into their eco-system.

The research also went on to say:

• Seven is the lucky number and loyalty is built when a consumer uses seven or more services on their device.  RIM’s sole warrior is BBM and once you’re all connected with your BBM friends and family switching can be very tough, despite the lack of other bells and whistles.
• Simplicity & familiarity is also key and 72% of smartphone users say they find it easy to access their device’s applications and navigate the menu system. Therefore, moving from a smartphone that they are familiar with is the biggest challenge to switching device.

But the real deal breaker is User Experience (UX) and the main barriers to switching all relate to it:

• 33% of respondents cited disrupting their current smartphone set-up (i.e. the apps and features I use)
• 29% – having to learn how to use another type of smartphone
• 28% – having to move their  content (music, video, books, apps) from one type of smartphone to another

The survey didn’t include Canadians but you can read more about the GFK study.

So what do you think? Have you made the switch and how was it?  We also have detailed analysis on customer preferences and behaviours given our role in the industry so if you are like most Canadians over the last three months you can hop on over and get your next iPhone in Canada at myCELLmyTERMS.com.