Apple Maps Issues Have Little Impact on iPhone 5 Sales

A new survey of 4,270 primarily North American consumers by the research firm shows an unprecedented degree of consumer interest in the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5. Dr. Paul Carton, VP of Research at 451 Research/ChangeWave Research, said:

Despite the media attention surrounding both the Apple Maps issue and the Apple Lightning port issue, neither has had an impact on the massive numbers of buyers queuing up to buy the iPhone 5. Rather, the survey results show both issues hardly rank as bumps in the road.

Nearly a third of consumers surveyed said they were likely to purchase an iPhone 5 in the future. That was nearly double the response for the iPhone 4S following its release. The iPhone 4S had been widely been considered the most successful smartphone release in history.

Nine-in-ten users reported having no problems or little problem with Apple Maps, which was the focus of media attention. Only about 3% characterized it as a "very big problem."

Consumers who said they were unlikely to buy the iPhone 5 listed as their main reason (61%) that they had no need for a new phone as they were happy with their current one. No respondents indicated that troubles with Apple Maps was cause for not purchasing an iPhone 5.

In addition, the survey also showed that the upcoming release of Windows Phone 8 has the potential to make serious inroads in the smartphone industry, and Samsung is the manufacturer best positioned to benefit by a wide margin.