You have to wonder if some future version of the iPhone will be renamed to deemphasize the fact that it is, when all is said and done, a telephone.
The thought occurs while reading a summary of new consumer research conducted by iSuppli that shows most iPhone usage time is spent doing things other than yapping. While the typical cell phone user spends 72% of their time on their device talking, that figure drops to 47% for the iPhone.
What are iPhone users doing most often instead?
From this morning’s press release:
U.S. consumers said they spent 12.1 percent of their iPhone usage time accessing the Internet, a stark contrast with 2.4 percent for all mobile phones on average. Furthermore, iPhone owners spent 11.9 percent of their usage time listening to music or other audio, compared to just 2.5 percent for all mobile handset users.
“This usage pattern shows Apple has succeeded in producing a true convergence product that consumers like to use for multiple purposes,” said Greg Sheppard, chief development officer for iSuppli. “Apple has come as close as anyone to achieving a balanced convergence in mobile-handset features and usage.”
Of course, these figures really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, given the way the iPhone was designed, marketed and hyped. It’s supposed to be much more than a phone.
Yet there’s still something notable about the fact that a bunch of phone owners are spending more than half their time doing things other talking.
(Update: Here’s another fresh iPhone survey, this one from Rubicon. Among the more interesting tidbits: 40% of users complain that the iPhone fumbles sites they want to visit, while an astounding one-third of owners admit to carrying a second mobile phone.)
(Update 2: And then there’s this survey saying iPhone users are sick and tired of being surveyed … no, actually it says they couldn’t be happier.)
(Update 3: Keynote’s offering a way to get even more companies doing even more iPhone user surveys. … Will the madness ever end?)
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