With all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone antenna issues, it’s easy to imagine that Apple may be losing some buyers to Android. There is enough confusion out there to suggest that a different smartphone may be a better smartphone right now.
However, the antenna issue has not really big impact on prospective buyers that are new to Apple, but it may have an impact on iPhone upgrades, which should make you think twice about iOS 4. IDC has published brief results of a survey that asked people whether they are still interested in buying an iPhone 4. 74% of those who wanted to buy an iPhone before have not changed their mind. However, 66% of those who own an iPhone already said they are delaying an upgrade to the iPhone 4. IDC did not break out numbers of those iPhone owners and which iPhones they own.
Of course, those numbers are to be taken with a grain of salt as purchase intentions do not really relate to actual behavior and intentions can change in an instant. However, the numbers may reflect the current mood in the market, which we would describe as cautious. IDC noted that the actual impact of the antenna issues and the effect of Apple’s response to give out free bumpers will only reveal itself over the next few months. That said, Steve Jobs said that more than 3 million iPhones have been sold already.