A new survey is out attempting to measure the satisfaction of iPhone 4 users with the two U.S. carriers now offering the Apple handset. If you bypass the statistical dead-heat on the level of overall satisfaction, twice as many iPhone 4 owners report dropped calls on AT&T as compared to Verizon Wireless.
An average of 4.8 percent of people surveyed by ChangeWave said they had dropped iPhone 4 calls on AT&T, versus an average of 1.8 percent of Verizon customers surveyed. The percentages closely align with a survey of general cell phone customers which found 4.6 percent of AT&T subscribers and 1.4 percent of Verizon customers reported dropped calls.
For prospective iPhone 4 owners considering which carrier to pick, researchers found nearly half – 46 percent – leaning toward Verizon. By comparison, 27 percent said they would likely pick AT&T – the same percentage who said they were unsure which carrier they would use.
However, it may be too soon to declare a winner in the contest for iPhone users. Researchers noted Verizon has been selling the iPhone 4 only since February. “Verizon is still in the very early stages of its iPhone 4 offering to consumers,” the research firm announced Tuesday. “It remains to be seen how well the Verizon network performs as the number of Verizon iPhone 4 owners ramps up and inevitably puts more pressure on their system.”
The wait-and-see attitude appears to be the intelligent response to such early numbers appearing to give Verizon an edge. Owners of the iPhone are known to place great demands on data throughput – even for smartphones. For years, AT&T has taken a public drubbing over its reliability under the strain of the iPhone. As more people turn to Verizon, we will see how the perception holds about overall satisfaction and whether dropped calls is the key factor for iPhone users.
