Samsung closes the gap with Apple satisfaction ratings
The competition between technology industry leaders Apple and Samsung has spanned the gamut of their devices – tablets, computers, and smartphones. Over the course of 2013 both companies took turns taking the lead in customer satisfaction, and according to the latest update from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the gap between the two is rapidly closing.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index is updated once every year and benchmarks the quality of products and services across many industries available to consumers in the U.S. We love following the rankings to see how tablet rentals and other devices in our inventory are stacking up in the market! Smartphones and other technology in the Information sector are just a few of the thousands of products that the ACSI tracks every year, and with the digital world (smartphones especially) booming, it’s interesting to see how the Sector rankings evolve from year to year.
Apple’s iPhone customer satisfaction ratings slipped from 83% in 2012 to 81% in 2013. In those 12 months, Apple released the iPhone 5. Samsung’s smartphone satisfaction on the other hand, boosted from 71% in 2012 to 76% in 2013. Samsung released not one, but two smartphones since the last ACSI ranking update – the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Samsung Galaxy S 4. Whereas Apple used to have a comfy 12% cushion from Samsung, that pillow has flattened from both sides to 5% in one year.
Not only have Samsung satisfaction rankings increased, but so have their sales. In 2012 alone, Samsung sold over 384 million mobile phones, smartphones accounting for over 50% of those sales. The iPhone 5 sold a staggering 5 million units in its first weekend, however the numbers were “disappointing” based on the initial sales projections for the device.
Samsung is catching up to Apple quickly in other products as well. The number of Samsung Galaxy tablet rentals that Vernon offers has increased over the last 12 months, and though Apple’s iPad rentals remain popular, only one new device (the iPad mini) and two device updates (iPad 3rd generation, iPad 4th generation) were released from the industry giant in 2012. Samsung released two versions of the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0 and 10.1), the Samsung Nexus 10, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 update.
With the customer satisfaction rankings increasing as well as the number of devices released, the boost doesn’t seem to be merely a result of quantity over quality – customers are happy with the products they are getting from Samsung, and the numbers don’t lie. Though Samsung Galaxy smartphones and other Samsung devices are rapidly gaining popularity, Apple remains a consumer favorite in the technology industry, followed by Motorola and Nokia. It makes us wonder – what will the 2014 rankings look like?
If your business has a need for hardware from leading industry manufacturers like Samsung, Apple, Lenovo and IBM, IT Xchange is equipped to meet your needs. Contact us at 1-877-377-5227 to speak with a representative in your area.
