A new study from interactive research and technology firm Vision Critical looks at the features that would get consumers excited about the iPhone. The online survey of more than 4,000 adults across the US, UK and Canada was conducted on June 16 and 17, following Apple’s announcement of the new iPhone 4. The new phone will feature a higher resolution screen and front facing camera but no FM tuner. An FM tuner would allow users to listen to local radio stations without going online and incurring data charges.
Consumers who already own or are likely to get a smartphone in the next six months were asked to choose from a list of possible features which are not being offered on the new iPhone 4. The FM tuner was one of the most popular features across all countries surveyed.
According to Jeff Vidler, SVP/Managing Director, Radio, Vision Critical, “If the rumors of an FM patent are correct, it looks like Apple is preparing itself for an inevitable future.”
Interest in an FM tuner is particularly high in Canada. The feature ranked 1st choice among Canadian smartphone owners and intenders with 43% identifying it as one of the features in which they would be most interested. In the UK a tuner tied as 2nd most popular feature with 34% expressing interest, and in the US it tied for 4th with 30% of Americans saying they would be interested.
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List of features not offered on the new iPhone
“Which, if any, of these features would interest you the most?”
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Canada USA UK
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FM radio tuner 43% 30% 34%
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Choice of wireless networks not asked 39% not asked
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A 4G network 35% 38% 30%
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8 megapixel camera 28% 33% 45%
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A larger display 25% 30% 30%
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Wireless syncing 29% 28% 34%
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Removable battery 24% 27% 28%
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A physical keyboard (not touchscreen) 17% 21% 19%
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None of these 17% 16% 19%
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Base: smartphone users and those very or somewhat likely to get smartphone in next six months
Vidler suggests two reasons for the higher interest in the FM tuner in Canada. “First, mobile data charges are higher in Canada. This makes a non-streaming radio option especially attractive for Canadian smartphone users. But it may also be that local FM radio itself remains more attractive to smartphone users in Canada than in the US and the UK where music streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify have taken the spotlight for smartphone users.” Due to royalty agreements, neither Pandora nor Spotify are legally available in Canada.
Among the features that are being offered by the new iPhone, longer battery life generates by far the greatest interest among smartphone owners and intenders: USA at 49%, Canada at 62% and UK at 57%; the next most popular features are a faster processor power and multitasking abilities.
Results are taken from an online survey on June 16 and 17 of 4,053 adults, using nationally representative samples from Vision Critical’s panels in the US, UK and Canada. A total of 1,004 adults were surveyed in the US; 2,018 in the UK; and 1,004 in Canada. Subsamples of smartphone owners and intenders were as follows: 428 in the US; 771 in the UK; and 356 in Canada.
RBR-TVBR observation: As we have stated time and time again, if there is an emergency, the mobile and cellular networks will be overloaded—just like 9/11. Since people don’t carry transistor radios around much anymore, the cellphone or smartphone is the place they can get information, and that will be through an FM radio chip built inside. Google’s Android already has an FM tuner built in. Yes, there have been rumors of Apple enabling a dormant FM Tuner on the iPhone and iPod Touch, but it still hasn’t been turned on. We think it will, via a simple software update.
On another note, while broadcasters may salivate at the chance more mobile devices will get FM tuners, in PPM markets, those numbers may not show up. Since PPM relies on ambient noise to detect listening, it won’t register listening that is done via headphones/earbuds. Arbitron has a plug that people are supposed to use to connect the PPM meter when you are using ear buds, but will they do so?
