Motorola, Back From The Dead, Gives Apple A Run For The Money

The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone may appear to be invulnerable at the top of the smartphone food chain, but it may soon have company.

ChangeWave reports

“Among individual iPhone models, the iPhone 4 received an exceptionally high Very Satisfied rating (84% for 32GB; 78% for 16GB) – confirming our earlier survey findings that despite the controversy surrounding its initial launch, the iPhone 4 has been extraordinarily well received by its owners.

Importantly, the iPhone 4 scores are even better than the ratings for the earlier generation iPhone 3GS models (81% for 32GB; 77% for 16GB) which were recorded in our May 2010 new smart phone owners survey.

Motorola came in an exceptionally strong second place, with 71% of new Motorola smart phone owners saying they’re Very Satisfied with their purchase – 8-pts ahead of third place HTC (63%).”

The numbers show that handset companies like Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and LG should not lose all hope as they trail Apple in the smartphone race. Motorola, after a huge success with the RAZR, lost money in the industry for two years and was considered no more than a niche player. Its new hardware design, coupled with the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android mobile OS, has allowed it to re-enter the race.

Douglas A. McIntyre