Don’t get me wrong, the Motorola (News - Alert) DROID is a compelling device. I plan to check it out, and might ditch my BlackBerry (shock!) for it. Though I prefer devices using the GSM air interface, I’m still going to consider getting a DROID.

 

But I’d argue that DROIDs do not compete with iPhones, despite the obvious face that most smartphones are built with relatively similar capabilities, for a clear segment of the mobile subscriber market. But here’s the main argument: People who buy iPhones are buying an intangible experience, not a smartphone.

 

People know other smartphones can be purchased. But I’d argue that iPhone (News - Alert) buyers are not choosing that device primarily because of its “smartphone” functionality, but because it is an aspiration statement about the buyer.

 

A recent survey of smartphone buyers by Interpret found that when considering a smartphone purchase, buyers were looking for the device’s ability to be smart (53 percent), hip/cool (48 percent), and productive (44 percent). Buyers expect their devices to work in a logical and efficient way.

 

But those buyers also indicated they wanted a device that signaled three key attributes of their owners to others. Interest in projecting a hip or cool image was quite prominent in the Interpret survey.

 

In other words, buyers are purchasing “feelings” more than physical devices. They are buying smartphones, but not because the phones do so much. In fact, the Interpret study finds that people buy their devices because they indicate that the buyer is smart, not the phone.

 

After that, the second most important feeling buyers were seeking was to be seen as hip or trendy. Lots of smartphones can score well among the three top emotional drivers. But iPhone is positioned differently. Of six devices compared head to head, the iPhone stands out for its “hip and cool” quotient.

 

Asked to describe their feelings about the iPhone, 62 percent of respondents said “hip, cool or trendy.” By way of comparison, the BlackBerry (News - Alert) Curve was felt to be “hip, cool or trendy” by just 35 percent of respondents, but “productive” by 50 percent of respondents. The Apple (News - Alert) iPhone 3GS was felt to be “productive” by just 39 percent of respondents.

 

The point is that smartphone buyer motivations are perhaps different from the motivations for buying feature phones. People are not buying feature phones because “the phone is me,” but for other reasons relating to price and functionality.

 

The Interpret study shows that many smartphones will succeed in producing feelings of “smartness.” Consider, for example, that the Palm Pre, Applie iPhone 3GS, BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry Storm all produce feelings of “smartness” about 52 percent to 55 percent of the time.

 

In other words, “it makes me feel smart” does not provide differentiation. All smartphones will do that.

 

Conversely, though different devices score as low as 39 percent or as high as 50 percent on the “productive” dimension, if one omits the iPhone, then users said various other devices made them feel “productive” at rates between 42 and 50 percent. Leave out the iPhone and BlackBerry Curve, which are polar opposites, and “it makes me feel productive” scores run between 42 percent and 45 percent.

 

In fact, iPhone buyers do not seem to think of those devices as terribly “productive,” as the iPhone evokes the lowest score on that dimension at 39 percent. The BlackBerry Curve, on the other hand, evokes similarly low emotions on the “hip, cool or trendy” dimension, at 35 percent.

 

Here’s the bottom line. Only the iPhone absolutely excels at making users and potential users feel hip, cool and trendy. If you want to feel productive, buy a BlackBerry. If you only want to feel smart, any smartphone will do.

 

It is too early to see how DROID will make potential users feel. If it succeeds in producing feelings of being hip, cool and trendy at the levels the iPhone does, then I will have to change my tune. If DROID can evoke those sorts of feelings at an extraordinary level, it will be an iPhone competitor.

 

If it merely scores “about average” across all three of the emotive scales, it is hard to see DROID challenging iPhone in the marketplace. If it succeeds at a high level, it will be because DROID has managed to evoke some key end user value in an extraordinary way.

 

It is unlikely DROID will actually displace the core iPhone value of “hip, trendy, cool.” Techies might like it, but techies are only a niche in the consumer market. To succeed at a high level, DROID will have to find some niche within the smartphone market other than “smart,” as the Interpret study suggests little power to differentiate on that score, or will have to redefine what “smart” or “productive” means.

 

At a high level, to really contend with the iPhone, DROID will have to create a new market for itself, not simply take share in an existing market. First and foremost, that means excelling on one of the three key emotive metrics that smartphone users or potential users tend to say the devices produce.