Microsoft has spent a lot of money on online ads, videos and TV commercials that feature actors, musicians and athletes to promote Windows Phone 8 over the past several months. It"s also been showing how the OS can be better than, for example, using Android on the Galaxy S III, but is all that promotion making much of an impact among US consumers?
A new survey commissioned by MKM of 1,500 US consumers between March 7th and April 2nd shows that Microsoft may still have some ways to go to get their Windows Phone 8 message across. Barron"s reports that of that number, 60.5 percent said, "No" when asked the question, "Are you aware that phones running Windows Phone 8 are now available for purchase?"
When that same group was asked if they were interested in or at all curious about Windows Phone, 63.9 percent said, "No." The report added:
While the WP8 OS is gaining in popularity, a disturbing number of respondents (50%) who were aware that WP8 handsets were available for purchase couldn’t associate a handset brand to the OS. In particular Nokia is lost in the shuffle, despite its early standing as a Microsoft partner. Only 19% of respondents are aware that Nokia has a Windows 8 phone [sic], trailing Samsung at 26% and HTC at 21%.
While it appears there"s not much awareness of Windows Phone 8 in the US, Microsoft might feel a little better by learning that BlackBerry"s situation is even worse. The same survey said that 82.6 percent of the U.S. consumers who were surveyed were unaware that BlackBerry 10 had launched in Canada and parts of Europe in late January. It added:
We were surprised that only 13% expect the BB10 to be available in the U.S. immediately or within the next 30 days. In fact the survey was administered between March 7th and April 2nd, 2013, which bracketed AT&T’s (March 22nd), T-Mobile’s (March 26th) and Verizon’s (March 28th) Z10 U.S. launches by about two weeks. The ineffectiveness of BlackBerry’s marketing plan is highlighted by the 63% of respondents who were completely unsure as to when the BB10 would be released in the U.S.
Source: Barron"s