June 2009 saw two major product releases. The Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS hit stores two weeks apart, and the cheers and jeers were loud on the Web.

Monitoring consumer reaction to a product release is a fantastic way to get feedback on features and prices while brainstorming ideas for upgrades. We wanted to compare the launches of this summer’s most popular smart phones using Spark’s features.

By collecting, organizing, and analyzing this public data, we hoped to discover any patterns, similarities, or differences between the two launches. To give each product a fair shot at data collection and sentiment, we started by monitoring the Monday before each product launch and the immediate two weeks following the launch.

Palm Pre: June 1-June 20 (released June 6)
iPhone 3GS: June 15-July 3 (released June 19)

Category Breakdown

The Site Type Breakdown pie chart separates each URL in the ecosystem into categories. By analyzing these categories, we determined where the bulk of conversation happened for each phone.

In the Palm Pre’s case, nearly 71% of conversations took place on social technology sites or sites that allow user-generated content (videos, blogs, social bookmarks, and social networks).

For the iPhone 3GS, nearly 66% of online conversation took place on social sites.

You can compare these two charts in more detail by clicking the images for a larger view. Palm Pre is on the left, iPhone 3GS is on the right.

It’s hard to call this round, but because the Palm Pre generated more social technology content, we’ll give it to the Pre.

Score: Pre 1, iPhone 0

Insight Growth

The Insight Growth gadget is a line graph that shows the amount of URLs added to an ecosystem by date. You can select fixed dates or relative dates based on the information you want to analyze.

This makes it easy to spot spikes or dips in activity.

On top is the graph for the Palm Pre. Below that is the graph for the iPhone 3GS. Click on either picture for a larger image.

Each graph has peaks and valleys, but there are a few interesting observations based on these graphs.

First, notice the huge spike the day of the iPhone 3GS release. It coincides with the biggest spike in content for the Palm Pre.

In fact, more content was generated about the Palm Pre after the iPhone 3GS release.

This suggests that consumers were comparing the two phones’ features and technology.

It also suggests (due to the lack of content before the iPhone 3GS release) that iPhone buyers are more inclined to talk about the product online.

It seems obvious that iPhone 3GS wins this round.

Score: Pre 1, iPhone 1

Semantic Analysis

Semantic analysis is key to learning the vernacular that your consumers use to talk about your brand. The clouds below list the most frequently used words across both insights (Pre = top, iPhone = bottom). The most frequently used words appear in larger font.

Some words are present on both clouds, which also suggests people were comparing the two phones. The most obvious are listed below. The percentages next to each number represent the amount of URLs from each insight that mention that specific word/phrase (Palm first, iPhone second):

• Apple (50%, 70%)
• Palm Pre (93%, 28%)
• iPhone (63%, 90%)
• Business (33%, 31%)
• Video (37%, 50%)

There are other standout words related to features and functions of both phones. For the Pre, these include:

• blackberry
• itunes
• hardware
• music
• nokia
• screen
• tethering
• touch

… And for the iPhone 3GS:

• camera
• community
• games
• faster
• nokia
• price
• speed
• upgrade

Sentiment Analysis

Watch the video below for an explanation of sentiment as it relates to the two phones.

Based on these results, it appears sentiment weighed more positively toward the Palm Pre.

Score: Pre 2, iPhone 1

Key Influencers

Spark ranks key influencers in two different ways (by domain influence and domain volume). These are the most influential URLs for any given topic. If you’re managing a brand, these are the people who your audience is listening to, and it’s their top destination for information on your brand.

These are the top five key influencers in both categories for both phones:

Palm Pre (Individual URLs)
1. Engadget review (read it)
2. Gizmodo’s Palm Pre page (read it)
3. Cnet review (read it)
4. Engadget’s Palm Pre “hub” (read it)
5. IsYouGeekedUp article on enabling tethering (read it)

Palm Pre (Domain Volume)
1. Twitter
2. YouTube
3. Digg
4. Gawker
5. Gizmodo

iPhone 3GS (Individual URLs)
1. Macworld home page (read it)
2. Cnet review (read it)
3. Engadget review (read it)
4. Apple.com iPhone page (read it)
5. Gizmodo review (read it)

iPhone 3GS (Domain Volume)
1. Twitter
2. YouTube
3. Digg
4. Apple.com
5. PC World

There are two key points to be made by looking at these top engagement targets. First, professional tech blogs rank among the top influencers for both products. These are the top destinations for consumers seeking information on each phone, so Apple and Palm should continue keeping these blogs well informed.

Second, Apple’s corporate website appears in both lists of influencers for the iPhone 3GS. Unlike Palm, it seems Apple is respected as one of the top locations for learning about their products. This gives Apple the upper hand when it comes to brand control.

This round goes to Apple.

Score: Pre 2, iPhone 2

Virtualization

Spark’s virtualization is a 3D map of a topic’s online presence. By visualizing this data, you are able to identify communities and discover their connections.

The virtualizations for the Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS reveal an interesting trend when it comes to traditional online media vs. social media. Watch this video for more information.

We’ve embedded these two virtualizations on a separate page so you can experiment with them yourself.

• View the iPhone 3GS Virtualization
• View the Palm Pre Virtualization

Conclusion

Judging by the connectivity across multiple communities, the virtualization round goes to the iPhone 3GS. That gives us a final score of…

Pre 2, iPhone 3

These “scores” reflect only the phones’ online activity related to the product launch. Spark’s data suggests that the iPhone 3GS had the more successful product launch.

Tagged as: Case Studies, iphone 3gs, palm pre, Video