The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) today released its latest rankings of customer satisfaction in the United States for mobile phones and a number of products and services, with the new mobile phone rankings being expanded to include Apple, Research in Motion, LG, and HTC for the first time.
In its first appearance in the rankings, Apple easily topped the list with a score of 83, outdistancing Nokia, LG, and HTC in a tie for second place at 75. Apple's performance marks the first time a mobile phone company scored above 77 in any of the group's surveys dating back to 2004.
For many users, the advent of smartphone technology has dramatically changed what they look for in a cell phone device. Two smartphones makers, Apple and Research in Motion (RIM), enter the ACSI with very different results. At 83, Apple (iPhone) leads the field by a long shot, while RIM (Blackberry) lags behind as the least satisfying at 69. [...]
At 83, Apple’s iPhone is a game changer when it comes to customer satisfaction. No other cell phone company has ever broken into the 80s. Apple’s nearest competitors this year are three companies tied at 75: Nokia (+3%) and ACSI newcomers LG and HTC.
Apple has routinely topped ACSI surveys for personal computers, and with its new inclusion in the mobile phone category it is now leading that market as well.
On the carrier front, AT&T experienced a significant jump in customer satisfaction this year as other carriers saw drops, significantly tightened the field. Among the four major carriers, Sprint led with a score of 71, followed by Verizon at 70 and T-Mobile and AT&T at 69. All of those major carriers were beat out by the "All Others" category, which garnered a score of 76.
Top Rated Comments
Me too....it should be a blunt force object on the skull of Android owners.
j/k
Well, for one thing, all the manufacturers but Apple sell a full range of products, including models designed for low cost. These phones are often underpowered and make for an inferior experience, which is going to drag down the average even if the Galaxy S is a pretty good telephone.
Apple instead sells older models to the low price crowd. You're still getting a diminished experience, but you benefit from the efforts that made the older phone a hit. Sort of like getting last year's Lexus instead of this year's Kia.
The other carriers also build a LOT of models. Each one therefore gets considerably less R&D budget than the iPhone. Granted, the OS is more or less free, but there's still a significant gap that will lead to less cohesive designs with less innovation and less time for QA.
There's also the matter of the apple store. I can't think of anybody who would rather suffer the buffoons at Radio Shack, BestBuy or the carriers' stores rather than the frequently crowded but well run Apple Stores. I recently upgraded to the 4S and waited longer being ignored at AT&T then my entire purchase and restore at the AS. Even with three times the clientele.
Let me take a note of that....dammit where did that stylus go?!? Crap it must have been ripped out while I tried to take this enormous piece of crap out of my pocket. Is that a rip in my jeans?!? Dammit this giant phone SUCKS. :eek:
This
By and large everyone I know with an iPhone is pretty damn happy with it.
/story
Life really begins to suck for you, when you become known to be the least satisfying at 69.....
;)
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well... also the highest (aside from Apple) is only at 75. I doubt there is a whole lot of measurable difference between 71 and 75, which is why most of the companies jump up and down between the years. There isn't really much significant change in the company every year.