In an unusual take on the usual 'my smartphone is better than your smartphone' debate, a new survey has revealed that when it comes to the amount of time we spend using our handset of choice, iPhone users are the biggest addicts. So addicted, in fact, that many iPhone users cannot bear to be parted from their smartphone no matter where they are: and that includes the loo.
According to digital banking provider Intelligent Environments which commissioned YouGov to undertake the research of British smartphone users last month, some 43 percent of iPhone users spend more than two hours a day using their handsets compared to 33 percent of Android smartphone users and 31 percent of BlackBerry users.
iPhone users are, so the research tells us, also most likely to pick up their handset as soon as they wake up in the morning and last thing at night. Slightly more worrying was the discovery that 35 percent of iPhone users regularly take their smartphones into the toilet with them and continue to use the things while going about their, erm, business.
Of course, the Intelligent Environments research was geared towards financial usage of smartphones so here are the boring banking statistics:
Sixty nine percent of iPhone users are happy to check their balances, 62 percent will transfer funds and 46 percent pay their bills from their handsets. Seventeen percent admitted their main bank account is always overdrawn, which is higher than the average of 11 percent for overdrawn Brits in general.
Android users, meanwhile, are rather keen on swiping and paying with some 27 percent happy to use contactless payment readers compared to just 13 percent on average when it comes to Brits shopping this way.
BlackBerry users were the least overdrawn, the least obsessed and the least inclined to be happy about getting marketing messages and special offers about banking services over their phones. Although not part of the Intelligent Environments research, perhaps we should add that this does not make Brit BlackBerry users boring, as the BlackBerry was the smartphone of choice for organising chaos during the recent riots in London according to many news reports!
"This research shows that although the iPhone is the bastion of apps, organisations must cater to Android and BlackBerry users too" says James Richards, director of mobile at Intelligent Environments, continuing "by recognising how consumers use their smartphones, there is huge potential for businesses in all sectors, whether retailers or banks, to tailor their mobile offerings to provide real value add and drive brand loyalty".
