According to a study by InMobi, 41% of mobile phone users in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) plan to purchase an iPhone 5 this fall, while half of them are going to do so within the next six months.
This means that Apple’s sales volume will increase from 27% to 41%, thus catching up with Android. iPhone 5 may become the most successful release in Apple’s history.
The figures given relate to the iPhone 5. If Apple releases only a modified version of the iPhone 4, then only 15% of respondents are inclined to buy it.
In any case, users would like the new iPhone to have a longer battery life, a more powerful processor and a high screen resolution, as well as a high-quality telephone connection.
According to the study, 52% of BlackBerry users are going to switch to the iPhone 5. 51% of owners of various iPhone models will do the same. Only 27% of Android users are going to change the platform, but even this will greatly affect Apple’s sales volumes.
The forecasts are especially sad for RIM, the manufacturer of BlackBerry gadgets. The study showed that even if Apple releases only the iPhone 4S, 28% of BlackBerry users plan to change the platform. This is 2 times more than the same indicator for iPhone and Android users.
Even if the figures are not very accurate, the results of the study paint a pretty clear picture: there will be two clear leaders in the smartphone market – iPhone and Android.
However, it should be noted that the projected demand for the iPhone 5 requires Apple to produce enough smartphones to satisfy it. The company has noticeably increased shipments of the iPhone 4 over the past 15 months, but it will not be easy to cope with the wave of popularity of the iPhone 5.