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There is a new sheriff in town and it’s name is iPhone.  This year, according the JD Powers the top dog spot goes to Apple’s phone, leaving RIM to finish in the #2 spot.  As you can see from the above graph, Apple’s entry was not included in last year (the survey’s inaugural year).  The graph shows some interesting items.

Looking at RIM, they stayed pretty flat, as did Samsung smartphone owners.  Not much news there, but look at Palm!  Whether it is just fashionable to rag on Palm or users have had enough, they took a hit.  The actual numbers are 698 to 644, a substantial slide over the past year.

While the big story is Apple owners are the most content smartphone owners, the smaller details that are not on the graph deserve mention.  Things like the average price of smartphone declined from $261 to $216, a substantial slide.  Prices ranged from a high of $337 (Apple) and $169 (Moto).  Interestingly, Treo was replaced as the top priced phone by Apple.

New to the graph are both Apple and HTC.  I find it interesting that HTC would make the graph, but it shows that smartphone owners know this stuff.  It would suggest smartphone owners do a bit more research on their devices than just fondling them at a Verizon store. 

Can Apple keep the top spot?  Can RIM’s virtual cornicopia of new phone configurations please the populous?  Can Palm regain anyone’s faith? 

Tune in next year for JD’s survey.

Read [JD Power]