iPhone report: most owners left Treos, Sidekicks behind

While we've seen a variety of surveys pitting the iPhone against its most notable rivals, a recent study conducted by the NPD Group breaks down the numbers behind who left what phone (and what carrier) to acquire an iPhone. Not surprisingly, iPhone early adopters were "ten times more likely than other new phone buyers to have previously owned a Treo and three times more likely to have owned a T-Mobile branded phone, such as the popular Sidekick model." When it came to carriers, Alltel and T-Mobile were said to have lost the most customers to AT&T, as consumers who "switched carriers to buy an iPhone were three times more likely to switch from Alltel or T-Mobile than from other carriers." Notably, the lack of "corporate email support" was pinpointed as the main reason that many BlackBerry users didn't make the leap, but it did praise the iPhone for helping to "bridge the gap between consumer-focused feature phones and productivity-focused smartphones."

[john @ Oct 15th 2007 8:37PM]

Lies.

[paul34 @ Oct 15th 2007 8:41PM]

Hardly. I'm sure many of those Treo users came to be disappointed.

I left my Nokia E50 (series 60 symbian) for the iPhone. While its amazing and is, quite frankly, awesome - I have been extremely disappointed by the fact that it is NOT a smartphone in any way - and cannot be made into one.

It is really just an advanced "dumb" (regular) phone.

Definitely does not bridge the gap between dumphones and smartphones. Let's not make hasty statements, okay Engadget? ;-)

[GameboyRMH @ Oct 16th 2007 2:47AM]

I'm going to take that one step further and leave myself open to abuse from the Apple fanboys, and say that if you left a Treo for the iPhone, you barely scratched the surface of the Treo's potential. The iPhone may be very impressive hardware-wise but when you factor in software, even a hacked iPhone can't touch a Treo. The iPhone had the potential to be a Treo killer but fell far short due to crippleware. That said the iPhone does a good job of filling a different niche, for people who just want their phone/browser and digital media player wrapped together, and nothing else. For this specific use it easily beats a Treo.

That's my opinion, do your worst.

[paul34 @ Oct 16th 2007 10:19AM]

I totally agree with you - ANYONE who says "oh, I love this better than my Treo/WM6 device/" is either lying or never used their phones beyond the capabilities offered by a Motorola V220.

It's one thing to have switched to the iPhone and have been disappointed (as is my case), but entirely another to actually say that as far as actual *functionality* is concerned, that an iPhone beats a true smartphone.

Not true.

[Señor Swanky @ Oct 15th 2007 8:42PM]

In related news, MS piddled itself. Just a little bit.

Mom didn't notice.

[Jeff Lewis @ Oct 15th 2007 10:30PM]

Uhm... Windows Mobile wasn't even mentioned - which implies that few WM users jumped to the iPhone. Why would Microsoft be unhappy about that?

[Assuming your post implies MS being unhappy - to be honest, I'm not at all sure what you meant - it reads more like the obligatory MS bashing post in an article which surprisingly has nothing to do with MS at all...]

[Don Wilson @ Oct 15th 2007 8:42PM]

I left behind my barely operable Moto Q :)

[Spyvie @ Oct 15th 2007 8:44PM]

Interesting, I bought a new WM6 T-Mobile Wing with a two year contract right about the time the iPhone was released.

Bucking the trends I guess...

[John Mullinax @ Oct 16th 2007 9:54AM]

Just traded a Treo 700 for a Moto Q9m. Huge step up, mostly thanks to WM6. It's not *quite* as pretty as the iPhone, but the Q9m design is still very nice -- right up there with the BB Pearl, IMO. And it's a true 3G SmartPhone with "next gen" capabilities -- e.g., I can find contacts *on my corp directory*, and search email stored on my email server at work, see email with tables and html laid out nicely, see who accepted my meeting requests, etc. It's even pretty good for media if you spring for a high capacity MicroSD card. It's not good enough at media to be my ONLY media player, but it's easily the best phone I've ever owned. If you need a phone for work and play, it's probably the best one available in the US market.

[Dan Parmelee @ Oct 15th 2007 8:47PM]

paul34 said it very well. I don't personally see the iPhone as a true smartphone like my BlackBerry Pearl is, nor the Cingular 2125 I owned before it.

The iPhone certainly does make a lot of phone features easier and intuitive, but until Apple finds better ways to improve the "authoring" capabilities of the iPhone I don't see it really taking a dent out of corporate smartphone sales.

The iPhone is great for viewing content, but for creating it...not the best.

[Jeff Lewis @ Oct 15th 2007 10:26PM]

"The iPhone is great for viewing content, but for creating it...not the best."

You know - I've never heard it summed up this well. You got it spot on.

[Barry @ Oct 15th 2007 10:45PM]

This might be upsetting if not for one fact: pretty much *every* phone is a horrible content creation device. I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than use 99.999% of camera phones for photography. Video is not any better. In general, media creation devices built into cellphones are like airbags: you hope you never need to use them, and when you do it's a surprisingly bad experience.

I'd say kudos to Apple for not delivering what's guaranteed to be craptastic media with their device.

/not a fanboi, don't own iphone

[JDizzle @ Oct 15th 2007 11:00PM]

I think he meant creating content as in typing documents and such, rather than taking pictures and recording videos.

[peternj @ Oct 15th 2007 11:57PM]

perfect.. great for viewing I agree. I'd add not great for receiving a call, in noisy streets incoming voice is too low, mostly though incoming is not received and voicemail takes hours if not a day. Lousy real life battery life. Screen if it gets greasy starts to impede touch control. all that polishing reminds me of my mum.

Like a lot of Apple products it's a beautiful toy but only when you don't have to keep one. Glad I returned mine.

[Jason @ Oct 15th 2007 8:47PM]

I went from treo 600 to 650 to 680 to iPhone and I couldn't be happier.

[ScottW @ Oct 15th 2007 10:14PM]

I'm another former Treo (600) user. Granted, my unit was about three years old, had been dropped a fair number of times, the battery was on its last legs - but I'm quite happy with the iPhone. I'm still waiting on some improvements in the email client (mass deletion, etc) but all told, it's a superior device.

[caramelzappa @ Oct 16th 2007 5:34AM]

I bought my sidekick for the brilliant keyboard, and while the iphone is very nice in many respects, no.

[Alex Adler @ Oct 15th 2007 9:00PM]

this poll seems acurate to me because i have a sidekick 3 and i am getting an iphone for my approaching birthday

[illutionz @ Oct 15th 2007 9:00PM]

well, treos, sidekicks, and windows mobile phones are piece of trash anyway
the only good phones are Symbian S60 and iPhones :)

[Jehuty @ Oct 15th 2007 9:01PM]

Ha I just picked up an iPhone last week to replace my Helio Ocean. I have had a terrible experience with Helio. I have had to replace the Ocean four times all of which for different issues. The first two times I replaced the phone the company never documented the situation. They kept on insisting that I reset my phone and input all 500 of my contacts over again and that this will solve the problem. Helio also stated on multiple occasions that they would not replace my phone until I reset the phone but I was not about to wait and see if it really would solve the problem and then have to wait anther week to get the replacement (which I had to do the first time). On top of that when I finally did receive my replacement phone/s every single time they transfered my phone number to the new phone they said it would take up to 24 hours. I soon caught on that this was not so at all. All I had to do was call and complain and it was reconnected immediately. Interestingly enough my last installment of the Helio Ocean basically crapped out on me two days before I got the Ocean. I don't think its very appropriate when you have to get your $250 replaced every month. My first thought on the Ocean was that it would have been the best phone I ever owned and I would have still agreed with that statement if not for the terrible manufacturing of the device and customer service.

Apple and AT&T has my business for the next two years.

[Jim @ Oct 15th 2007 10:32PM]

As an owner of a Helio Ocean, I have to say that it's most of what I would want in a phone and the iPhone is the rest. I'm an iTunes user and would love to have a phone, music player, camera, text messenger and internet browser all in one, along with a decent amount of storage capacity. But, until Apple releases an iPhone with at least 32-64GB of onboard storage, a 3G data transfer, GPS chip and voice activated calling (bluetooth headphones aren't required but would be freakin sweet), I'll stay with my Ocean + 5G 60GB iPod Video + Canon SD400. I have to disagree with this poster as I have never had any problems whatsoever with my Ocean, other than an occasional lock when I would removed the battery and restart it and everything would be fine again. The camera, text messaging and most of the phone functions are excellent. While on vacation in Maui and again in NYC, I used the GPS/Google Maps countless times to find restaurant locations and phone numbers, used Google internet to find a stupid fact and have used the camera and messaging functions to post to my blog. Part of me kind of hopes that Helio folds before my 2-year contract IF and only IF Apple releases iPhone 2.0 with my laundry list of desires, which I think in this day and age, are completely attainable.

[Jehuty @ Oct 16th 2007 8:09AM]

I understand the love for the Ocean and I agree it would be nice if iPhone had some of those capabilities. I wish 3rd party apps would be allowed on the phone already so I could at least have aim run off it but I dont see that ever happening. Like I said I would have stayed with Helio/SprintNextel if the phone did not keep malfunctioning on me every month. It was always the same problem too. Either the screen flickering and end up turning an inverted purple permanently or the keyboard would randomly get super sensitive making me type and delete doubles of everything or the internet would brick permanently or the battery status would not show proper charge. I would fully charge the device and sometimes have it die on me after only an hour and a half of talk time..

as for my needs the iphone has all the capability's that I need....just wish they had aim on it.

[Kozzi @ Oct 15th 2007 9:02PM]

Lately any report with the word iPhone is news.

[adam @ Oct 15th 2007 9:05PM]

FACT: Engadget gets most of its funding from Apple.

[arthur barnhouse @ Oct 15th 2007 9:19PM]

FACT: John Hodgemen says the best facts are made up.

[Matthew.T.Noel @ Oct 15th 2007 9:46PM]

Fact: Bears eat beets.

[Will @ Oct 15th 2007 10:22PM]

Simple truth... Apple stories bring in the hits.. which brings in more ad revenue. Expect the trend to continue.

[Jeff Lewis @ Oct 15th 2007 10:23PM]

FACT: Cats cannot taste sweet flavours.

[scymrmn @ Oct 16th 2007 12:08AM]

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

[Feech @ Oct 15th 2007 9:08PM]

While it doesn't surprise me that Sidekick users left their carriers, I am a little shocked that Treo users jumped ship too. What that really tells me IMO is that Treo users, never really needed to be Treo users in the first place.

[Alan @ Oct 15th 2007 9:08PM]

I sold my crusty old sidekick 2 with it's lovely pealing rubber keyboard. (I loved that phone though) Nothing beats the sidekicks for IM. I truly miss the qwerty and hiptop servers.

[Eric @ Oct 15th 2007 9:12PM]

I was out of contract with T-mobile when the iPhone came out. I had a BlackBerry. Did I switch? No, in fact I renewed my contract with T-Mobile and 3 weeks ago just got a new BlackBerry Curve...and it's already unlocked. Did I pay for the unlock? No, I called T-mobile, requested the phone to be unlocked, and that's it. Why would I want to be stuck with AT&T with a phone that cannot be unlocked to make calls overseas, which cannot send MMS and is overpriced like every other turdtastic equipment Apple sells?

Leaving a Treo and/or a Sidekick for an iPhone does make sense though.

[clevin @ Oct 15th 2007 9:14PM]

engadget needs to list the full facts
out of 13,000 buyers in a period of 30 days, 200 of them bought iPhone. Not very big number if you ask me.

iPhone is pretty, but hardly can compete with others on functionality. thats why I got new palm centro, rather than stick with ATT and get iPhone.

[LordFarkward @ Oct 15th 2007 9:29PM]

a bit more than 1.5% market share from ONE model is quite a huge market share, if you ask me.

although i'm extremely intrigued how it compares to the market shares of the N95...

[clevin @ Oct 15th 2007 9:35PM]

hehe, 1.5% shipment in 30 days is quite different from 1.5% market share.

[LordFarkward @ Oct 15th 2007 9:40PM]

sorry, i should've been more specific, "30 days market share" :p

but i digress, it depends on which 30 days it did its survey on. a 13,000 sample on a 30 day period is actually quite a good large number that can represent the whole population for an entire year with probably +/- 5% error (so could be 190 to 210 people, meaning 1.46% to 1.61% market share).

nonethless, it IS still a representation (and CAN be a meaningful one at that) of the US market share

[amby @ Oct 16th 2007 5:10AM]

@LordFarkward - google helped: N95 has sold 1,5 million in first 3 months.

[ShortFuse @ Oct 15th 2007 9:15PM]

My friend is leaving Verizon after many years but not for the iPhone. She's getting the AT&T Tilt from for $99 after rebates on letstalk.com
You get your rebates and then switch to mediamax 200 for $20/mo unlimited data. (don't call, just do it on att.com)
it may be bulkier but worth it.
qwerty + gps + 3g + real 3rd party apps + flashing original firmware (kaiser) UI = win

[Waqar Khan @ Oct 15th 2007 11:03PM]

Hey dude I just order my phone from lets talk and it going to cost me 99 dollars, I can't believe it, hey listen but I have sign up for 2years data, so you saying I could remove the data and then add media max 200? but what about the contract?

[ShortFuse @ Oct 25th 2007 1:32PM]

I don't know if you'll get this in your email inbox (or if it'll go to me) but cash the rebates and after you get the money back, go to AT&T and log in to your account and change the PDA Unl to MediaMax 200. That's what I did. If it doesn't let you, on the website, change it to say you have a handset phone as a device (like razr v3) and that'll work

[Ron @ Oct 15th 2007 9:17PM]

Um...i don't have an iPhone..but i played with one and yeah its nice that the texting isn't as bad as it seems...but i don't really think that too many people that text by touch left for the iPhone...

just my two cents...correct me if I'm wrong

[nikster @ Oct 16th 2007 1:53AM]

the longer i use it, the better i find the texting. i sure text a hell of a lot faster on the iPhone that i ever did on the N73 numpad or the P990i QWERTY keyboard.

I use a single index finger for typing very fast, and very intuitively, and I don't care much about missed / wrong keys b/c the iPhone software auto-correct almost always takes care of it.

add to that other niceties:
- sms are displayed as conversations, so you don't lose the context.
- editing your message easy - just move the cursor with your finger, a loupe appears and you can precisely position the cursor. that is a hell of a lot faster than either pulling out a stylus or going there with the arrow keys.

I haven't used a Blackberry but I dare say that text editing on the iPhone is up there with the best. I have seen people type blind and fast on num pads but while I can't type blind i am willing to bet I can do it faster on the iPhone keyboard.

other things are not so good - carrier lock, no 3rd party apps w/o hacking, email...

[whatsup @ Oct 15th 2007 9:23PM]

authored a report based on 200 iphone users. that is less than 0.02% of at least 1 million iphone user. NPD, we stands for credible and scentific market reseach!!

[MR @ Oct 15th 2007 11:19PM]

The survey talks about 200 iPhones out of 13000 consumers in the last 30 days. I don't understand why you want to talk about the total number of iphone users here. That's totally irrelevant to what this survey is about.

[Kenneth Rodriguez @ Oct 15th 2007 9:26PM]

I left a Blackberry Pearl for the iPhone. I'd give the Pearl's texting a 10. I give the iPhone's an 8.5. Treo's and Q's are 9's. Any T9 phone is a 2.

Every other phone does pictures, songs, maps, youtube, and browser a 5/10 and the iPhone does it a 10.

Granted I could absolutely flyyyyy on text's and emails on that BB. But I was willing to give it up for the total media device.

I left a Nokia N80 for my Pearl, and I left a Sony Ericsson P910i for the N80. So far, the iPhone is the best overall phone I've had.

[Kenneth Rodriguez @ Oct 15th 2007 9:28PM]

Oh, and I unlocked it for free. So I'm paying $65 for the same plan AT&T charges $100+ for. =D win win win situation.

[Drew @ Oct 15th 2007 9:32PM]

People leaving the Treo for the iPhone? I'm not surprised! The Treo is a POS (piece of well.... you know.), I mean I would of probably done the same if I wasn't stuck with a contract with Verizon.

[clevin @ Oct 15th 2007 9:37PM]

lol, cancel it.

[Drew @ Oct 15th 2007 10:53PM]

Haha, I was seriously considering it, but then the iPod Touch came out and I decided to get that (I Jailbreaked it on Saturday and I'm lovin it!). But as soon as my contract expires, I'm out of that door w/ Verizon ASAP! I hate them. They make me feel like a guinea pig in a cage... Ok so maybe that's a really bad analogy lol!

[Ben @ Oct 18th 2007 1:17PM]

I think its a no brainer, someone who has a regular phone wouldn't switch to an iphone because it is on the technological forefront. The Treo users switched because they are geeks and like to be up with technology. The sidekick owners got the iphone becuase they wanted to be the cool people. Hey look at me now everybody I have an iphone and left my rhinestone sidekick at home.