Compete's data says iPhones comprise a category all their own

Elaine Warner at Compete.com has mined some intriguing data from mobile phone shoppers at AT&T. Her penultimate paragraph draws a very interesting conclusion:

The fact that consumers are not increasingly considering other AT&T handsets while considering the iPhone suggests that, whether due to marketing or other factors, the iPhone has created its own category of handset. It doesn’t fit neatly into the category of smartphone, music/media phone or camera phone, which is typically how shoppers research handsets. That hasn’t been a hindrance on demand though, as consumers continue to seek out the iPhone despite its lack of conventional categorization.

From a marketer's point of view, any product that a consumer considers unique is money in the bank, because competitors don't even get considered before purchase. Given that only 12% of iPhone shoppers even viewed another phone on AT&T's Web site (compared with 30% for ordinary AT&T shoppers), Apple has data to prove that it is driving traffic and shoppers to mobile phone operators. And if that doesn't keep them in a class of their own with consumers next year, it certainly will with those operators.

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