Diversity in Search Terms Marks Interest in new iPhone

3G, Apps, Price and Plan among top iPhone search terms;
Demographics shift versus original iPhone launch 

New York, NY – July 10, 2008 – With the launch of the new iPhone, consumers are interested in more than just price, as shown in the diversity of search terms around the new iPhone. Among the top 200 search term suggestions for the iPhone (in the four weeks ending June 28, 2008) are branded searches (e.g. “iphone”), 3G, release date, iPhone applications, price, coverage plans, service providers and how to unlock the iPhone according to Hitwise.

For the first iPhone release, the majority of searches were centered on the price of the device. This year the new 3G version promotes the improved internet access capabilities. Consumers are looking for information about the 3G network and potential advantages. Among the top 10 search term queries for the iphone, 3G was listed within three of the top 10 results. In addition to the release date and cost, searchers are also seeking a variety of applications for the iPhone, which is poised to increase after the launch of the App Store within iTunes. 

The weekly market share of visits to the AT&T Wireless website is up 30 percent for the week ending July 5, 2008as compared to the week prior to last year’s iPhone launch. Last week’s traffic level was second only to the week of Christmas (week ending Dec. 29, 2007) with last week ranking as the second highest week in traffic over the past 24 months for the exclusive iPhone provider.

“Apple and AT&T have succeeded in turning the ‘3G’ moniker into an almost proprietary name associated with the new iPhone – judging from the most recent search data,” said Heather Dougherty, research director, Hitwise. “What was previously an obscure tech spec now shows up in 12 percent of top search terms associated with the iPhone, one of the most widely anticipated consumer devices.”

Who is visiting the iPhone website – 3G versus original iPhone

Hitwise demographic data reveals that for the four weeks ending July 5, 2008, 34.75 percent of visitors to the Apple iPhone website were from users between the ages of 18-24 years, comprising the largest age group of visitors to the site. More than 54 percent of users to the website had incomes between $30,000 and $99,999 and 51 percent were Male for that same time period.

Compared to the last launch week in 2007, U.S. visits to the iPhone website from users 45 and older have increased 11 percent while users with incomes between $60K - $150K have increased 9 percent. The U.S. visits from women are up 2 percent compared to the launch week in 2007.

More iPhone coverage from Hitwise:  

For iphone launch views from the UK and Australian markets please click on those markets. Bill Tancer, our general manager of global research, is blogging on ABCNews.com and has posted on the iphone launch here:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/click/2008/06/iphone---contem.html

Note: The U.S. Traffic Share by Demographic tables illustrates the percentage of traffic each website received from each Demographic as a percentage of all traffic to the website. The tables are based on data from a rolling 4 week period. Hitwise captures demographic information at the household level, reporting data on users over the age of 18.

About Hitwise

Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,400 clients around the world with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.

Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise’s patented methodology anonymously captures the online usage, search and conversion behavior of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into an easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement and report on a range of online marketing programs.

Hitwise, a subsidiary of Experian (FTS: EXPN) www.experiangroup.com operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.

For up to date analysis of online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at http://weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at  www.hitwise.com/datacenter.