The survey found that 56 percent of smartphone owners in key global markets were keeping their options open about which phone they would buy next, with only Apple commanding a significant degree of loyalty.

Who are these finicky smartphone users? Apple users are the most loyal (with 59 percent of current iPhone users planning to stick with the iPhone). The survey’s lead analyst explains:

“Loyalty with a handset is a lot more complicated these days in that people buy into experiences at the high-end level. If a phone doesn’t do what it says it will do or what the owner hopes it will do, the maker will lose loyalty.”

Satisfaction

Satisfaction is another nebulous survey category. About a week ago, the results of a survey conducted by ChangeWave confirmed what iPhone owners have known all along – the iPhone is by far the greatest thing since sliced bread.

In that survey, the iPhone 4 ranked highest in customer satisfaction among smartphone owners at 77 percent. In case you do care about the runner-ups, the other smartphone manufacturers included in the survey were Motorola (71 percent with the Droids X and 2), HTC (63 percent with the EVO 4G and Droid Incredible), Samsung (45 percent with the Galaxy S) and RIM (44 percent with the BlackBerry Curve, Bold and Torch).

In the words of ChangeWave’s CEO Paul Carton:

The iPhone 4’s exceptionally high Very Satisfied rating confirms our earlier survey findings that despite the controversy surrounding its initial launch, the iPhone 4 has been extraordinarily well received by its owners. These iPhone 4 scores are even better than the ratings for the earlier generation iPhone 3GS models which were recorded in our May 2010 new smart phone owners survey.

A Matter of Perspective

In the end, it’s nice to know –- but far from surprising –- that iPhone owners are satisfied enough with their phones that they would buy another. After all, the iPhone pretty much defined the modern smartphone, and besides, it’s about the most expensive smartphone one can buy. Isn’t it pretty safe to assume that someone buying an iPhone has given their purchase more deliberate consideration than if they were buying a much cheaper alternative?

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They’re probably still on a high from the sale of their billionth app, but Apple now has more cause to celebrate thanks to consumer research firm J.D. Power and Associates.

A recent survey by the firm found that the iPhone ranked highest in customer satisfaction among cellphone owners so far in 2009. It topped the whole survey, beating out all others in both the smartphone and regular ol’ dumphone category, too. Nothing to sneeze at for a phone that once incurred such vocal complaints. Maybe the soothing balm of the upcoming OS 3.0 features has mitigated some of the iPhone’s early perceived failings.

The iPhone’s total score was 791 out of a possible 1,000. Next closest were LG and Samsung smartphones, which scored 772 and 759, respectively. Compare that to the smartphone category average of 751, and it looks like the iPhone has a handy lead. Users surveyed attribute their satisfaction with the phone to ease of use and OS and hardware features and quality. Of the smartphones rated, those that ran Windows Mobile were, unsurprisingly, ranked on average lower than others. Even BlackBerry didn’t do very well, earning a 739. Traditional phones ranked much lower, with an average of 707 points.

This survey is very good news for Apple going into June’s WWDC. If even half the rumors are true, the phone they plan on releasing at the annual conference will beat the iPhone’s current feature set considerably. Of course, the Pre will also likely be released around the same time, so that’s a whole new variable with which to contend. All I know is that my own satisfaction has risen quite a bit since installing the OS 3.0 beta, so I don’t see Apple running into the same kind of software trouble they had with the launch of 2.0, which should keep ratings high.

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