Apple iPhone 3G S tops Nokia N97 in search survey

With two major smartphone launches taking place today (June 19th), one internet trend analysis company has looked at how consumers have been surfing the web to find them.

In a new survey issued by Hitwise, search engine traffic for a host of handsets was considered to find which device had been the most sought out during the week ending June 16th.

The Apple iPhone 3G S, which was launched at selected retails outlets at 08:02 BST, topped the listings – taking 24.8 per cent of all online mobile searches.

It was noted this meant its fiercest rival the Nokia N97 – which also hits the shelves today – was beaten into second place with 3.6 per cent of the overall share.

However, another of the Finnish manufacturer’s flagship handsets – the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – also featured in the chart, taking third place with a 2.6 per cent stake.

Fourth place went to the Samsung F480 Tocco (1.8 per cent) and this was followed by the LG KP500 Cookie (1.6 per cent), Palm Pre (1.2 per cent), Samsung S5230, Tocco Lite and Sony Ericsson W995 (all one per cent).

“The surge in searches for the iPhone during the week ending 13th June meant that there were more than twice as many searches for the new iPhone than the N97 – and eight times that for the Palm Pre,” Hitwise said.

O2 has also reminded people this week that if they have an existing Apple iPhone 3G they will be able to access the gadget’s new operating system via the iTunes store.