The brouhaha over Apple
replacing Google Maps in iOS 6 with its own mapping and navigation technology
has not changed customers' minds about the iPhone 5, according to a ChangeWave
Research survey. ChangeWave, which polled
more than 4,200 consumers in the U.S. and Canada, reported last week that only
10% of those with an iOS 6-powered iPhone said they had experienced a problem
with Apple Maps, with the largest chunk of those -- 6% -- acknowledging the
issue was "not much of a problem."
Nine out of 10 said they
had not experienced any problem.
And while others --
analysts and public relations specialists -- had ranked the Apple Maps issue as
a PR mess equal to or even greater than the one in 2010 over
"Antennagate," consumers did not.
Two years ago, when
ChangeWave polled on Antennagate -- the name Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs gave
the uproar when iPhone 4 owners reported that signal strength plummeted and
calls were interrupted if they touched the newly-redesigned
smartphone in certain ways -- 35% of those surveyed then said the
antenna issue was a problem.
In a research note, Paul
Carton, director of research at ChangeWave, called the Maps snags "of
marginal concern" to iPhone 5 and iOS 6 users.
ChangeWave's data backed
that up: When consumers who said they were unlikely to buy an iPhone 5 were
asked to provide a reason, none cited the Maps issue.
The other at-launch change
that rattled users was Apple's switch to the smaller "Lightning"
charging and data port on the iPhone 5, which upset customers who would need to
buy adapters to connect their new smartphones to older docking and sound
systems.
Many more consumers
reported having problems with that move than Apple Maps: Of those who said they
were likely to buy an iPhone 5, 68% said the Lightning port was a problem, with
a whopping 31% asserting it was "somewhat of a problem," another 31%
saying it was "not much of a problem," and 6% calling it a "very
big problem."
Only 26% said it was
"no problem at all."
Even so, Carton said the
two issues "hardly rank as bumps in the road."
Overall, consumers were
more likely to purchase the iPhone 5, said Carton, than last year's iPhone 4S
at the same time in its release trajectory.
Almost one in five polled
-- 19% -- said they were "very likely" to buy an iPhone 5 for
themselves or for another person in the next 90 days, while 13% said they were
"somewhat likely" to do so, for a combined plan-to-purchase of 32%.
That was significantly
higher than the 21.5% who answered the same way in 2011 when asked about the
iPhone 4S. The "very likely" difference was even greater: 19% for the
iPhone 5 compared to 10% for the iPhone 4S, or nearly double.
The iPhone 5 continues to
be in short supply, with shipping delays in the U.S. still at the
three-to-four-week range, according to Apple's e-store. That range hasn't
budged since shortly after Apple started selling the
iPhone 5 on Sept. 21.
While some contend that the
problem is greater-than-expected demand and others argue that Apple's
production has not kept pace, the iPhone 5's current shipping delay is at least
double that of the iPhone 4S at the same point in its timeline.
About three weeks after the
iPhone 4S's debut, Apple was telling customers at its online store that orders
would ship in one to two weeks.
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