October 15th, 2012, Emilene Parry
There is no doubting the iPhone’s popularity in the region – but what are people’s reactions to the new iPhone 5? Using YouGov’s Omnibus, 1496 respondents (715 in KSA and 781 in UAE) were asked to give their opinions on the iPhone 5 and the modifications from the iPhone 4s.
The iPhone 5 has recently officially been released in the US and although Apple has not officially released the model in the UAE, 5% of iPhone owners in the UAE claim to already own this model. Overall, almost a third (30%) currently own an iPhone, with the iPhone 4S (45%) being the most popular model, followed by the iPhone 4 (35%).
It would appear that the iPhone is gaining more popularity with a quarter (of those who do not currently own one) claiming that they plan on buying the iPhone 5 and a further third (34%) have not yet decided whether or not they will buy it.
The iPhone 5 boasts a number of modifications from the iPhone 4S. For the most part, it would appear that iPhone users see the modifications as improvements. However, the new connector and the nano-sim are seen in a more negative light.
iPhone users are most happy about the faster processor, with over three-quarters (78%) claiming that this is a positive change from the iPhone 4S. They also see the larger screen (72%), the 4G option (70%) and the new camera lens (70%) as improvements. Just over half (55%) are positive about the iPhone 5’s longer design.
On the other hand, less than half (47%) see the new connector (changed from the 30-pin connector to a much smaller 8-pin type) as a good thing. Respondents are also particularly negative towards the new nano-sim, with only a third (34%) saying it is a positive change.
Only recently have mobile service providers in the UAE started offering the nano-sim to their customers. It will be interesting to see how attitudes towards the nano-sim and the iPhone 5 change now providers have started pushing the availability of this technology.