There are piles of crazed Nokia fans who believe Nokia would have been better off sticking with Symbian than moving to Windows Phone, or at the very least that the company transitioned too fast from the legacy operating system.

Now recent YouGov survey from 4,169 British adults carried out online between 12th and 17th December 2012 conclusively show that Lumia owners are much happier with their smartphones and more likely to recommend them to others.

In December 2011 only 99% Nokia smartphone owners ran Symbian, and 1% ran Windows Phone. Now a year later, 40% of Nokia smartphone owners in the UK used Lumias and customer satisfaction has improved significantly.

The largest increase was noted in the last 3 months, with Nokia 42% of Nokia owners saying they would buy a Nokia next time, up from 30% in September, likely related to the increase in Lumia ownership.

Between September and December 2012, the number of Nokia customers that would recommend the company rose from to 45% from 32%, while detractors fell 4% to 33%.

The companyâ€™s satisfaction ratings for attributes such as reliability, function speed and connection speeds, had increased, YouGov said. The company ranked first for four attributes measured in the survey â€“ battery life, camera quality, speed of call connection and the robustness of handsets ie the company retained a reputation for building solid handsets with great battery life, call quality and great cameras.

â€œWhile these attributes are lower in importance than others they do help paint a picture of Nokiaâ€™s re-emergence.â€

â€œBy increasing the number of Lumias in its base it has given their customers something worth coming back to. It is now seen by its consumers as a quality smartphone brand.â€

Appleâ€™s loyalty rating was still the highest at 80%, but one wonders what Nokiaâ€™s numbers would be for Lumias alone minus the 60% Symbian handsets.

YouGov associate director Russell Feldman said the change in consumer perception among their customers had put them in a solid position as smartphone competition intensified.

Via Whatmobile.net