Purchasers of the iPhone are overwhelmingly happy with their phones, and Apple/AT&T are successfully luring customers away, according to a market survey conducted by Interpret of Santa Monica.

In a survey conducted July 6-10, in a story carried by USA Today, Interpret queried 200 iPhone customers. Ninety percent said they were "extremely" or "very" satisfied with their iPhone. In addition, 85 percent said they were "extremely" or "very" likely to recommend an iPhone to others.

The findings were described as "pretty much off the charts," according to Jason Kramer, Interpret’s chief strategy officer. Greg Joswiak, Apple VP of Marketing for the iPhone and iPod, observed that positive word-of-mouth reaction has been even greater than the iPod.

The survey also found that three out of 10 buyers were first time Apple customers. For 40 percent, it was their first iPod. Half of those surveyed changed carriers to get an iPhone and paid a hefty US$167 on average to break their previous contract. In terms of gripes, the lack of a physical keyboard was well down the list.

Others who’ve commented on this news have also been astounded. Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray said Apple could "change the physics in the phone market....We thought AT&T would be more of a barrier to entry." Marc Orchant at ZDNet, who commented on the survey results, described the opening performance of the iPhone this way, "Wow. In baseball terms, that’s not simply a home run. That’s a bottom of the ninth, score tied, game-winning grand slam."