Survey Says: No Loyalty among iPod Users

According to ABI Research, when 1,725 teenage and adult US residents and iPod owners were asked whether they planned to buy a new MP3 player in the next 12 months, of those responding they were likely to do so, 58 percent revealed they were “somewhat likely” or “extremely likely” to choose a Microsoft Zune player over the iPod or another MP3 player brand.

Interestingly, for owners of players other than iPod, 59% indicated that they would be “somewhat likely” or “extremely likely” to choose Zune over other choices. Finally, only 15% of iPod owners said they were "not very likely" or "not at all likely" to choose Zune.

"Our conclusion," says principal analyst Steve Wilson, "is that iPod users don't display the same passionate loyalty to iPods that Macintosh users have historically shown for their Apple products."

We can’t be really surprised with those results right now. The hype around the Zune is so high, I don’t see why a person would completely be against at least a look at what the Zune can offer. The real test is going to be in a few months from now when real people will have a Zune in their hands a make real reviews. But that kind of survey can still crank the heat in Steve Jobs’ office…

Read here and here