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Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2008 > April > 14 > Entry
iPhone: It also makes calls. Really
If Apple Inc.’s iPhone represents the future of mobile phones, we all might be talking less when we’re out and about.
According to a report from tech market researcher iSuppli Corp., iPhone owners use their phones more for surfing the Web, listening to music or doing other stuff than for actually making voice calls.
About 72 percent of the time that most mobile phone users pick up their phone, it’s to make voice calls, according to iSuppli’s ConsumerTrak survey of U.S. residents. In contrast, iPhone owners spend just over 46 percent of their time making voice calls.
Users of iPhones said they spend about 12 percent of their usage time accessing the Internet, compared with just 2 percent for all mobile phones on average. Furthermore, iPhone owners spent 12 percent of their usage time listening to music or other audio, compared to just 2.5 percent for all mobile handset users.
Drop me an e-mail if you’re reading this on your iPhone. For the rest of you, feel free to call.
Comments
By Tony
April 14, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this
“If Apple Inc.’s iPhone represents the future of mobile phones, we all might be talking less when we’re out and about.”
This study has been critically misinterpreted everyplace it’s appeared in recent weeks.
In indicating the relative amount of time spent doing various tasks, iSuppli did not indicate whether users were spending more total time with the iPhone than with the devices against which it was being compared.
Since the iPhone has more features than any of its competitors, it’s utterly unsurprising that the percentage of time devoted to making phone calls is lower relative to other devices. I’ll wager that folks talk just as much as before (in terms of total minutes); they’re just Googling/emailing/etc. in addition.
By Tony
April 14, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
“If Apple Inc.’s iPhone represents the future of mobile phones, we all might be talking less when we’re out and about.”
This study has been critically misinterpreted everyplace it’s appeared in recent weeks.
In indicating the relative amount of time spent doing various tasks, iSuppli did not indicate whether users were spending more total time with the iPhone than with the devices against which it was being compared.
Since the iPhone has more features than any of its competitors, it’s utterly unsurprising that the percentage of time devoted to making phone calls is lower relative to other devices. I’ll wager that folks talk just as much as before (in terms of total minutes); they’re just Googling/emailing/etc. in addition.
By coyote
April 14, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this
Writing this from my iPhone while sitting on my porch watching grackles hunt for bugs on my lawn. I make just as many calls on my iPhone, if not more, because it’s so easy to look up a restaurant or business, then call for a reservation or hours. But during a lot of the time when my old phone was unused, I am listening to NPR podcasts, surfing news (like the Statesman), orplaying web games. Good thing the iPhone has a good long battery life! I tried using my old phone to check email, but went way over my minutes because it was so slow and painful, and it’s web browser was useless. Love my iPhone. It’s the most expensive piece of electronics I own (I am a lowly service worker) and by far the most all-around useful.
By Ric Romero
April 14, 2008 6:50 PM | Link to this
Ric Romero would like to know more about this “Internet Phone” that you speak of.