A new survey suggests that most people aren’t willing to pay $500 for an iPhone, but many would be interested if the iPhone was under $300.

Online market research firm Compete Inc. surveyed 379 people in the U.S., most of whom had heard of the iPhone and have shopped for an iPod, to find out how interested they are in the device.

Highlights of the survey:

• Of those surveyed, 26 percent said they’re likely to buy an iPhone
• Only 1 percent said they’d pay $500 for it.
• Forty-two percent of those who plan to buy an iPhone said they’d pay $200 to $299.
• 60 percent of those in the survey who said they were likely to buy the phone said they’d switch mobile operators in order to get it.

The phone may start out around $500 because early adopters will pay that, said Andy Neff, an analyst at Bear Stearns who participated in a conference call to discuss the results of the study. But pricing will likely drop by $100 to $200 to target the mass market, he said.

Since the Apple is expected to have a 50% margin on the iPhone, it could easily adjust its price to target a larger audience.

Apple’s goal is to capture 1% of mobile phone sales, which it should easily be able to do, based on Compete’s survey. On the other hand, if it hones its price to close to the $300 mark, Apple could easily could find the iPhone a bigger success than the iPod.