Apple's iPhone satisfaction slips; Samsung, Nokia gain
Apple's customer satisfaction scores for its iPhone in the U.S. slipped a bit from a year ago as Samsung surged. The big questions revolve around whether Samsung can maintain its momentum in 2013 at Apple's expense.
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Apple still dominates the smartphone category with a score of 81, down 2 percent from a year ago. Samsung had a score of 76, up 5 points from 2012. Nokia also had a score of 76.
It's likely that much will be made of Apple's slippage, but it may be worth pondering whether Samsung's score has peaked. The Galaxy S3 was well received and the S4 is more evolutionary. In addition, Samsung's score of 76 merely matches a 2010 peak.
Among other players in the smartphone market, HTC's score of 72 is down from 75 a year earlier. BlackBerry also held with a score of 69.
Other odds and ends from the ACSI report:
- Wireless carrier satisfaction ticked up to an overall score of 72. Verizon Wireless led the pack with a score of 73, followed by Sprint at 71 and AT&T at 70.
- Microsoft's customer satisfaction score was 74, down from 75 a year earlier. Windows 8 hasn't helped or hurt the company. ACSI said:
With global PC shipments having their largest quarterly drop in 20 years, the market remains thorny. Windows 8, criticized by users for its interface, has not derailed customer satisfaction for Microsoft, but it has not helped either.
- Verizon FiOS led the Internet service provider pack with a score of 71. Comcast had a score of 62.