iPhone growth moving towards Android in US

Things are looking wonderful for Apple's iPhone these days, according to a study of US smartphone buyers by ChangeWave. The study results show that of Americans expecting to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days, 46 percent are planning to get an iPhone while only 32 percent are thinking about an Android phone.

This shows that the demand for iPhones is highest ever for a non-launch period, second only to the launch of the iPhone 4 last year when a full 50 percent said they'd go with an Apple product. ChangeWave speculates that the introduction of the Verizon iPhone is what caused the change. At the end of 2010, demand for Android and iPhone was about even; once the Verizon iPhone hit the market, interest in Motorola's Droid phones waned.

Other fun facts from the ChangeWave study show that iCloud has the attention of both existing Apple owners and others; that about 70 percent of iPhone owners are very satisfied with their device, compared to a dismal 26 percent for RIM/BlackBerry owners; and that Windows Phone 7 is showing remarkably good satisfaction levels (about 57 percent).

The results of the ChangeWave study could be a foretaste of tomorrow's Apple financial call, which will probably divulge spectacular numbers for iPhone and iPad sales for the last quarter.