According to a survey conducted by Aptilon, a pharmaceutical sales and marketing channel company, by the end of this year about 61 percent of US physicians will be using iPhones. About 9 percent will use an Android smartphone and 9 percent will be using a BlackBerry smartphone, according to the survey. Overall 84 percent of US physicians will have a smartphone of some kind, the poll of 341 "HCPs" or healthcare providers found. The poll was conducted in February.

The remaining 16 percent of physicians said they would still be using their regular cellphone at the end of 2011.

Aptilon said the percent of US physicians who owned an iPhone at the beginning of 2011 was 39 percent.

This survey looks to be the same one Aptilon released results from earlier this year: Last month Aptilon reported that 79 percent of U.S. healthcare professionals named the iPad as their tablet of choice. About 12 percent of those surveyed said they would choose a Windows tablet and 9 percent expressed a preference for a Google Android tablet.

Chilmark Research has estimated that 22 percent of U.S. physicians had iPads at the end of 2010. That was before the iPad 2 was commercially available, too.

For more on Aptilon's latest survey results, read more from the release below:

iPhone Expected to Dominate U.S. Physician Smartphone Market in 2012

Recent survey demonstrates physician smartphone buying intentions

MONTREAL--According to a recent survey of U.S. physicians, 61% intend to own an iPhone by the end of 2011. This is up from 39% at the beginning of the year and compares with the iPhone’s 24.7% adoption among general U.S. smartphone users.

“HCPs have signalled a clear preference for their smartphones”

Aptilon Corporation, (TSX-V: APZ), a leader in online access to and interaction with HCPs on behalf of pharmaceutical sales and marketing programs, used its ReachNet Physician Access Channel to recruit HCP participation in a survey on mobile technology and convenience options for HCPs. ReachNet provides access to over 450,000 HCPs through multiple channels, including the Internet, email and through mobile and tablet devices. Between February 7 and February 16, 2011, 341 HCPs from throughout the U.S. participated in the survey.

The research found that by the end of 2011, 84% of U.S. physicians will be using a smartphone; corresponding with Manhattan Research’s forecast of 82% smartphone adoption during this same time period. Segmenting smartphone users by major platform, the Aptilon survey data revealed that 61% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) will be using an iPhone, 16% a regular cell phone, 9% Google's Android platform and 9% RIM's BlackBerry platform.

"HCPs have signalled a clear preference for their smartphones," remarks Mark Benthin, Aptilon COO, "Professionals are taking advantage of the latest advancements to connect with information, tools and live resources when, where and how it suits them.”

Aptilon provides HCP access across multiple channels, including multiple different smartphone and tablet devices. As a result, the Aptilon Mobile platform enables access to and consumption of sales and marketing activities across various different mobile devices.