A lot of press has been generated over a recent smartphone survey.

The survey was carried out online by a research firm known as Crowd Science and asked smartphone users questions about what they thought of their devices and whether they would switch to another brand if given the opportunity.

The report had some rather damning stats for RIM, as 39 per cent of those surveyed said that if they could buy a new handset tomorrow, they would choose an iPhone and 34 per cent said Android would be a likely buy.

So, does this mean Blackberry is doomed? Will RIM soon find itself struggling to stay afloat? Probably not. While Apple may be gaining on RIM in the market, there's a lot in this report (and not in it) to suggest that the BlackBerry won't be collapsing any time soon.

First off, the survey is somewhat vague. It says that users were asked to check one of three categories for each platform: definitely or probably would buy the phone; maybe or maybe not; and definitely or probably would not. So, 39 per cent of the BlackBerry users surveyed said that they "definitely or probably would" buy an iPhone if given the choice right this instance. Then again, 31 per cent said that they "definitely or probably would not" buy an iPhone, making it the option most commonly cited in that category by both BlackBerry and Android users. The same data being presented to suggest that BlackBerry users can't wait to jump ship to the iPhone could be used to suggest that the iPhone is most commonly cited as the device BlackBerry users don't want to own. On top of that, the BlackBerry is not even specifically named as an option, instead lumped into the 'other smartphone' category.

But none of that really matters as much as the simple fact that the end user often doesn't get their first choice of smartphones, particularly when it comes to the BlackBerry. Because RIM has such a huge business following, a large portion of its handsets are going to be issued by the company. Users can pine for an iPhone all day and all night, but if BlackBerry is what the IT staff is handing out, that's what you'll get. Even in the consumer space, local carrier strength and service contracts can mean many users stay with their old provider and go with BlackBerry or Android rather than AT&T and the iPhone.

In the end, I don't want to suggest that the iPhone isn't taking users away from RIM, there's more than enough information to show that indeed the BlackBerry is losing ground to Apple. But don't believe the outlandish stats, particularly when they're based on questioning as vague as this.

17 Mar 2010