One in Three iPhone 3G Users New to AT&T

NPD says that almost one in three iPhone 3G buyers switched to AT&T from other carriers, even as smartphone prices continue to drop.

A new report from The NPD Group finds that 30 percent of U.S. consumers who bought an iPhone 3G from June through August switched to AT&T from another wireless carrier. Of those “switchers,” nearly half came to AT&T from Verizon Wireless, with 24 percent switching from T-Mobile and 19 percent switching from Sprint.

“The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales,” said NPD’s director of industry analysis Ross Rubin, in a statement. “While the original iPhone also helped win customers for AT&T, the faster network speeds of the iPhone 3G has proven more appealing to customers that already had access to a 3G network.”

The NPD Group also found that the average price of a smartphone sold in the U.S. dropped to $174 during the period from June to August, a 24 percent drop from the average price of $236 for the same time a year ago. And while the iPhone 3G held the sales lead for the months, it was followed by the BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, and the Palm Centro.