By The Numbers - September 01, 2008

BlackBerry vs. Apple

Look out Apple, BlackBerry wants to eat your lunch. So says ChangeWave Research which said the Canadian manufacturer has a number of plans in the works to upset Apple’s phone cart among consumers. (See Figure 1.) RIM, which has already launched the feature-rich Bold handset, has two other devices waiting in the wings: Thunder and Kickstart. (See Figure 2.)

ChangeWave surveyed 3,567 consumers before the iPhone 3G launch and found considerable potential for the RIM devices among consumers once they actually get into the marketplace. According to Tobin Smith, ChangeWave’s founder, the results show consumers are “hungry” for all varieties of BlackBerry. Smith said the real losers in this smartphone battle will most likely be the Tier 2 players. The survey found that current RIM customers are 2 to 3 times more likely to buy new RIM models than the customers of other handset makers. The survey also found that the new RIM products have a significant potential to lure away customers from other manufacturers, with Palm, Motorola and Samsung being the most vulnerable.

Smartphone Loyalty

Figure 1. Percentage of owners who currently own a RIM, Palm or Apple device.

New BlackBerry Smartphone

Figure 2. Consumers who said they are very/somewhat likely
to purchase a RIM Bold, Thunder or Kickstart.

Source: ChangeWave Research

Speed Matters
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) conducted its annual Speed Matters survey to rank Internet speeds available to each state of the union as well as Puerto Rico. Launched in September 2006, Speed Matters is designed to bring attention to the issue of Internet connectivity and to encourage elected officials to implement policies to bridge the digital divide.
Alabama	33	Alaska	51	Arizona	34	Arkansas	46
California	25	Colorado	29	Connecticut	12	DC	16
Delaware	2	Florida	7	Georgia	9	Hawaii	42
Idaho	47	Illinois	24	Indiana	31	Iowa	45
Kansas	26	Kentucky	41	Louisiana	18	Maine	21
Maryland	8	Massachusetts	5	Michigan	20	Minnesota	44
Mississippi	43	Missouri	39	Montana	49	Nebraska	35
Nevada	15	New Hampshire	13	New Jersey	3	New Mexico	36
New York	6	North Carolina	11	North Dakota	50	Ohio	23
Oklahoma	40	Oregon	19	Pennsylvania	27	Puerto Rico	52
Rhode Island	1	South Carolina	14	South Dakota	32	Tennessee	17
Texas	22	Utah	30	Vermont	38	Virginia	4
Washington	10	West Virginia	37	Wisconsin	28	Wyoming	48
*“It takes roughly 16 minutes and 33 seconds for a worker interrupted by an e-mail to get back to what he or she was doing.” —*University of Illinois/Microsoft

Cellular Wallet
Bank of America says 98% of its mobile banking customers check their balances on their phones, and 40% transfer funds or approve online payment of a bill to a regular vendor.

Top 10 Back-2-School Phones
1. AT&T LG Vu CU920	6. SprintPCS Palm Centro Onyx
2. Verizon LG enV2 VX9100	7. Verizon Motorola W755
3. Sprint PCS LG Rumor	8. AT&T BB Pearl 8110
4. T-Mobile BB Curve 8320 w/myFaves	9. T-Mobile Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
5. AT&T Sony Ericsson W580i Walkman	10. AT&T LG Shine CU720