iPhone vs. Android: Which Phone Should You Choose?

Since 2007, Apple’s iPhone has dominated the cell phone market with its innovative and user-friendly design and style. AT&T is the service carrier that provides phone service to the iPhone, boosting sales a considerable amount and allowing AT&T to closely compete with Verizon and Sprint. Apple’s initial advertising campaign that introduced the iPhone first aired before the phone’s Jun 29^th launch. Considering this was the only phone of its kind at the time, the campaign was extremely successful; the commercial was simple yet effective. With a black backdrop, it displayed only a person’s hand holding an iPhone, and visually illustrated how one would use the phone, its different capabilities such as email, web surfing, photo storage and how fast and easy it was to use. I remembered first seeing these commercials and reacting with awe, thinking to myself, “WOW! I have never seen anything like this. That is such a cool phone!”

The first day the iPhone went on sale, the advertising campaign’s outcome proved strong with thousands of people from across the country waiting patiently for hours outside of Apple stores to be one of the first people to purchase this new piece of innovative technology. Since 2007, Apple has sold several million iPhones worldwide and has released new, upgraded versions as well. The 3GS iPhone came out in 2009 and this year, the iPhone 4G was released.

The Android phone was introduced by Verizon in October of 2009 to compete with Apple’s iPhone. Google and Verizon collaborated to make a brand new phone, similar to the iPhone, with fast 3G network coverage in order for Verizon to compete with AT&T in the touch screen phone market. The Android, like the iPhone, is operated by a touch screen, internet accessible, email compatible and has thousands of different applications one can add to their phone.

The advertising campaign Verizon used was very sharp, bold and to the point. The Motorola “iDon’t, Droid Does” campaign directly attacks the iPhone by stating all of its flaws, and then points out that the “Droid Does” do all of these things.

Some of the phrases used in the “iDon’t” commercial are the following:

“iDon’t have a real keyboard”

“iDon’t run simultaneous apps”

“iDon’t customize”

“iDon’t run open development”

These are extremely strong allegations that Verizon boldly states in their commercials, and as a result, Verizon has won over many consumers over the past 11 months. In the first 74 days, 1.05 million Motorola Droids were sold, exceeding the iPhone’s initial release sales numbers when it first came out in 2007.

Another technique Verizon used to advertise the Android was institute the “Droid Does Times Square” campaign. People on the street were introduced to an interactive experience where a Droid was hooked up to the electronic billboards in Times Square, and by using the voice command feature, the Droid was able to control the huge billboards. This was extremely useful and productive; people became familiar with the new Verizon product and became excited for its release.

Verizon vs. AT&T

Before deciding on whether the Droid or iPhone is right for you, it is important to take into consideration which network provides the best coverage. Verizon Wireless has the best coverage in the United States, while AT&T has received constant complaints about dropped calls and lack of service in some areas. However, since AT&T uses a standard phone service, the iPhone can be used globally and not just domestically.

In 2007, AT&T had approximately 65 million wireless phone users where as today, it provides about 87 million people with wireless cell phone services. Verizon had 63.3 million users in 2007 and now has 92.8 million users, approximately six (6) million more than AT&T. (Cox, Network World) Verizon is the leader in the United States wireless phone market ahead of AT&T.

Now which phone will you choose? Will you pick the iPhone with the so-so AT&T service that has millions of different apps to choose from, or the Droid that is up and coming into the market and uses Verizon, which has the best coverage in the United States? Only time will tell which one of these companies will be the most successful in the long run, but the question is, which team will you play for?

Written by: Adriana Mirra