Posted on 08/25/2004 8:27:37 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Study: Apple, Dell lead PC customer satisfaction index
Overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry has rebounded
The PC industry is doing a better job of satisfying its U.S. customers than in recent years, and improvements to technical support seem to have done the trick, according to the results of a study released Tuesday by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) measures the attitudes of consumers in several different categories, including PCs and online Web sites, on a scale from zero to 100. For the second quarter of 2004, the PC industry posted a score of 74, which represents an improvement of 2.8 percent compared to last year and a level the industry hasn't achieved in four years.
Overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry has rebounded as vendors have renewed their focus on support and made PC technology easier to set up and use, said Claes Fornell, professor of business at the University of Michigan Business School and director of the ACSI.
Apple Computer Inc. and Gateway Inc. recorded the largest improvements in customer satisfaction. With a score of 81, Apple's customers are the most satisfied of any other PC vendor measured in this index.
Apple's success comes from a focus on innovation and improving tech support, Fornell said. Just about every other PC vendor received technical support scores that were less than the scores they received for the quality of their products, but Apple was the only company that received high marks for both quality and support, he said.
Gateway's standing has improved based on its acquisition of eMachines, Fornell said. The company's products are now seen as having greater value because of the addition of eMachines' low-cost desktops and notebooks, he said. Gateway received a score of 74, in line with the industry average.
Dell Inc.'s customers were only slightly less satisfied than Apple's, according to the index. The PC market share leader received a score of 79.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) managed to eke out slight improvements in customer satisfaction, but it remains below the industry average. The ACSI breaks out HP's scores for both HP-branded PCs and Compaq-branded PCs, and both were below the industry average at 71 and 69, respectively.
Fornell blamed the integration efforts following HP's acquisition of Compaq for its troubles in maintaining customer satisfaction. For some years prior to the merger, the separate brands led the ACSI, but both brands have not regained the scores they achieved in the late 1990s, he said.
The ASCI identifies about 250 customers of each PC vendor and surveys them about their attitudes toward that company. The index also develops scores for other industries such as automobiles, household appliances and telecommunication services.
Mac Apple Ping...
If you want to be included on the Macintosh Ping List, freepmail me... do the same if you want to escape!
Thinking about switching to an Apple next time around.
I've got an older Dell that I still play around with, mostly RH9.
If you're a geek who's always swapping out parts, playing with overclocking, etc, Dell's the one. He engineered it very nicely, easy to change parts, etc. Very well done.
I just received a copy of Forbes in the mail on Monday. Apple has 2% of the PC market. Heck, their Mac business only did 6.6B last year. If they weren't so greedy for hardware margins they could have over 50% of the PC market. I live in Austin, TX and saw how they royally screwed over Power Computing and I think Apple deserves its anemic market share to go with Jobs's myopic 'vision'.
Gateway bought the bottom feeder in the market, and their scores went UP.
What does that tell you? I will say though that the eMachines I have work fine, aside from the power supplies dying faster than usual.
Yep, right up there with Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Porsche, and Ferrari, Apple has proven that discerning people will pay for respectable performance. It helps that Apple has the most rock-solid computing platform, able to withstand the onslaught. Again, it performs just like the rest of its high-tech kin!
Yes, but we like to think of ourseleves as the "upper 2%." ;)
saw how they royally screwed over Power Computing
If Apple was selling sub-$500 computers at Wal-Mart, they'd be struggling like HP/Compaq and Gateway/E-machines. If there were Power Computing clones today, Apple would probably have 0.05% marketshare, and Power Computing would have 2% which would have killed both companies.
Spoken as if you knew what you were talking about. You obviously don't! G5, 10.3, only use Safari! Always online, always works, no tweaks!
I'm setting up G5 servers, for marketing, because of stability and no need for IT department! You probably make a good living, as a PC parts replacer/Windows bug-fixer... (excuse me, I meant to say "Information Technology Specialist, Manager, or whatever...")!
Does that mean that wintel only has 98 users? Man! Bill Gates is sure sucking a lot of $ from them...
I guess that depends on what you want to do. A friend of mine likes to play with pc's - he really likes to go to flea markets and buy new gizmos or software, and the challenge of getting those to work. He's always busy.
I, on the other hand, want to *use* my computer for Internet, letters, financial records, etc. I don't have time to spend figuring out how it works.
The pc suits him, the Apple suits me.
No, I am in sales, and I am not seling Apple Computers. (I did take advantage of their depressed stock price last spring, and have more than tripled my investment. My wife and I are spending 12 days on a cruise ship to spend some of the profit).
I absolutedly believe you with your x86, xp, just as much as I believed that guy trying to sell me a bridge.
I have an appliance, called a Macintosh. You have a personal computer.I have been using Mac since 1985. It worked out of the box, then. I never learned c >, didn't need to be bothered.
You must have been more dedicated to computing, than I. I have long used a graphic environment, and its accompanying mouse. You used code until Gates copied the Mac interface. Your mouse has two buttons. Mine is easy, and sensible. Yours is bound by copyright infringement, from getting any closer to the ease of Macs. I like mine. You are welcome to yours. As for speed, I already have more than I will ever need.
I use my Mac for digital video production. I use it to process music. I use it to read email from family, day and night. I enjoy hearing from my 81 yr old mom and dad. They let me know they are alive. I used my Mac in the '80's to join an environment of users on the Internet, America Online. They made it interface with my Mac, and made it easy to navigate on the "web". I don't use it much, now, but I do stay on the web quite a bit. I even read news on the FreeRepublic website, which I support. I discuss things, with other Freepers!!!
But, to be as critical as you are, of us Mac users,seems to border on the fanatical. Some people like Fords, some like Chevy's. You really feel it necessary to defend the dinosaur. That is what you accuse me of doing... sounds just like sKerry!
Jobs, et al, were too thick to make the jump to pure software and let others worry about what the software runs on. Apple is its own worst enemy.
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