One third of Android owners secretly want to join the cult of iPhone
The headline may have a few irate Android owners writing in, but a new survey has found many of you suffer from iPhone envy.
This is going to make some of you very angry indeed. Apparently, some Android owners treacherously harbour indecent thoughts about -- and you might want to sit down for this one -- the iPhone.
Android phone owners were four times more likely to desire an iPhone than the other way round, according to a poll by mobile comparison site MyPhoneDeals. A third of Android owners admitting to feeling passion for the ChristPhone, while only 7 per cent of iPhone owners owned up to preferring Google's green robot.
More than half of men who didn't own a smart phone would go for an iPhone, while only a fifth of non-smart phone owners would go Android. At first glance the survey looks like it's full of win for Jobs' mob, but it'll pay to look at the results a little more closely.
Unlike the few iPhone models, there are many types of Android smart phone, with both high-end expensive handsets and cheaper budget devices available. If the survey examined Android owners with cheaper models such as the HTC Hero or HTC Wildfire, then of course they might want a more expensive phone -- and the iPhone is the most obvious example of a desirable wallet-busting smart phone.
It probably would have made more sense if the survey had asked owners of phones such as the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy S were still lusting after the iPhone, because at least they're comparable.
The survey also showed that two thirds of iPhone owners could not manage without their iPhone compared to 29 per cent of Android owners. Similarly, this might be due to the fact that many people with cheaper, less feature-rich Android handsets just don't need or want to rely on a smart phone that much.
Google should probably be more concerned with a stat saying that only 16 per cent of respondents would like to own an Android phone. Many non-techies, even iPhone users, aren't aware of other OS options and this is a good example of Apple effectively out-branding the opposition. Android hasn't penetrated the mainstream consciousness -- yet.
What do you think? Do you Desire and Galaxy S owners think you made the wrong decision? Are you lusting after an iPhone? Or did you opt for Android precisely because it's not made by Apple?