STATS: HTC on fire, BlackBerry users not happy bunnies

from EuroDroid by Gary C

We have another set of smartphone user data underlining the astonishingly rapid growth of Android and that of its handset-making partners, courtesy of ChangeWave Research – which shows smartphone awareness at an all-time high.

The below graph shows but one element of the data – how HTC has dramatically risen to public prominence in the smartphone arena over the last few years. Is it thanks to its Windows Mobile powered HD2? Probably not, eh?

Looks like Motorola’s DROID-powered late ’09 popularity spike is flattening out, while HTC is rocketing away in terms of user awareness. HTC’s HQ has literally blasted into space. HTC is in orbit right now, looking down on us and laughing.

On the downside, despite the crazy internet furore regarding iPhone 4′s dodgy reception, Apple is still on a high – it’s users are happy (AKA smug) with their purchases and loving it. Poor old RIM owners, though, are sinking into a PIT of DESPAIR.

Read much, much more about the state of the smartphone universe over at ChangeWave. It’s some great data. Very comprehensive. Nice work, CW.

iPhone 4 triggers collapse of interest in BlackBerry- from Electonista

The run-up to the launch of the iPhone 4 may have gutted interest in RIM's BlackBerry as well as Motorola and Palm, ChangeWave determined in a new study. Those planning to buy an iPhone in three months' time logically surged from 31 percent in March to 52 percent in June, but BlackBerry demand was hit especially severely as it fell from 14 percent at the end of the winter to just six percent this spring. Motorola's lack of an update to the Droid also pushed it down to just nine percent, and Palm's quiet following the acquisition by HP has killed its demand altogether.

HTC was the only major challenger to see demand grow, as the combination of the Droid Incredible and Evo 4G pushed it from 12 percent of planned phone buys in March to 19 percent in June. The balance may change with Motorola's Droid X nearing release.

Analysts blamed RIM's decline almost exclusively on happiness with BlackBerries. The number of owners who said they were "very satisfied" with the phone sank to an all-time low of 30 percent in June, down from 38 percent in March and well below the high of 55 percent from 2008. The age of the OS and a lack of interesting devices has seen the BlackBerry lose its "cool factor," ChangeWave wrote.

Apple was slightly lower in June as well, but at 73 percent had much more overall satisfaction than even HTC, which reached just 39 percent. RIM wasn't the lowest; companies that depended heavily on Symbian or Windows Mobile, such as Samsung, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, ranged as low as 20 percent.