AT&T, Not Antenna, Is Biggest iPhone Turn-Off: Study

According to researcher Piper Jaffray, it polled 258 mobile phone users in Minneapolis, and only 20 percent of them said the iPhone 4's antenna was the reason why they wouldn't buy one. That's not inconsequential, but when it's AT&T that is turning mobile phone consumers away in droves, Apple's exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier is becoming that much more a liability.

Piper Jaffray analysts noted that three times the number of survey respondents who complained about the iPhone 4's antenna complained about the iPhone not being on Verizon. While the antenna issue is "removing upside potential," Piper Jaffray noted, "Verizon is actually the most significant factor limiting demand."

Piper Jaffray also reported that 38 percent of its polled users were Verizon customers, and 31 percent were AT&T customers. Forty percent of them considered an iPhone, while 29 percent have considered an Android device.

The survey obviously represents a tiny fraction of the overall mobile phone consumer population, but it's one more that's illustrative of what most observers already know: Antennagate was a black eye for Apple, but nothing more, and that once Apple finally pulls the trigger on a second U.S. carrier -- especially if it's Verizon -- its iPhone floodgates will open that much wider.

While reports of the iPhone moving beyond AT&T in the U.S. have been circulating since the original iPhone was launched, they've picked up in greater frequency and detail in recent weeks. Verizon remains the subject of much speculation, but other rumors, including one tweeted this week by Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson, have it landing (at least in its iPhone 3Gs form) on T-Mobile first.

Apple's iPhone remains a runaway success story, but it faces a newer challenge in the form of Android, the Google mobile OS currently part of some of the summer's hottest smartphones and mobile devices, including iPhone rivals from HTC, Motorola and Samsung. Android's growth has been well-charted; new numbers from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker are projecting Android's global smartphone market share to hit 25 percent by 2014.