Survey says: iPhone users are young, rich, and technically savvy

Time again for another survey of iPhone users. Rubicon Consulting talked to 460 iPhone owners to draw a picture of what kind of people are using the iPhone, how they use it, and what that means for the future of Apple as well as the cell phone market.

There are a number of interesting little facts in the information, some of which are more surprising than others. For example, it’s probably not exactly shocking to find that users are young (about half are under 30, and 15% describe themselves as students); that they’re richer than average; and that 75% of them were already Apple customers (either iPods or Macs). And while it’s little surprise that the iPhone has lead users to do more mobile browsing, 40% of users say that the iPhone has trouble displaying some sites (we’re looking at you, Flash).

However, I was intrigued to find that as many as 28% said that the iPhone had displaced their carrying of a laptop, and that fully a third still carry a second cell phone (they don’t seem to have polled respondents about whether or not they carry a second media player), with one in ten of those carrying a Blackberry. 40% of those surveyed said they wanted to add additional applications to their phone, and almost half had installed third-party applications via jailbreak (good news for developers, even though the data also points out that most iPhone owners right now are prototypical early adopters, making them the demographic most likely to want new apps). The survey also says one in ten iPhones has been unlocked for use on other carriers, but keep in mind that it only covers those sold in the US.

Rubicon’s crunched a lot more interesting data, so feel free to take a look at the full 35-page report.

Category: News

Posted by Dan Moren on Apr 3 2008, 3:00 PM ET

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