Leaving Android and RIM for Apple’s iPhone

It’s no secret that Apple’s sleek iPhone is the most popular single smartphone on the market.

While the iPhone dominates in individual smartphone sales, Android is the most popular operating system, mostly due to the fact that there are huge numbers of Android devices on the market.

The latest survey results from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners are in for the month of April 2012, revealing some interesting tidbits about the rapidly evolving smartphone market.

Of the individuals who purchased the new iPhone in April, 42% were switching from another smartphone – up from 36% in February.

Breaking those percentages down still further, it turns out that 38% of those who purchased an iPhone in April were previous owners of either an Android smartphone or a BlackBerry handset.

Of those who purchased an iPhone in April, 34% were upgrading from earlier iPhone models. Another 24% if iPhone customers were switching from feature phones or buying their very first mobile phone.

The survey also analyzed the number of users moving to an iPhone from a Palm device, which totalled 4% in April.

Finally, the surve analyzed iPad sales, determining that the discounted iPad 2 accounted for 41% of US iPad sales in April compared to 59% for the new iPad. In addition, the 3G/4G versions of both iPad models posted higher sales than the Wi-Fi only iteration – with mobile broadband equipped tablets accounting for 55% of total sales.