Customer satisfaction with personal computers is at an all-time high, which could help lead to increased demand. That’s the takeaway from a new survey released Tuesday by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index.
Claes Fornell, ACSI’s founder, said that, for demand to rebound, consumers must have both the “increased desire to spend and have the means to do so.” He noted that the desire is met “in the form of higher customer satisfaction,” although the means will depend on positive movement for jobs, wages and access to credit.
Apple Tops Again
Satisfaction with PCs is now at 78 on the ACSI 0-to-100 scale, an increase of four percent since the last survey. Apple is again the leader in satisfaction, including both its Mac and iPad product lines. This is the seventh straight year the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has occupied that position, and its current score is an increase of two points to an all-time high of 86.
ACSI attributes Apple’s satisfaction success to innovation, product diversification, and strong customer service.
The second-place position — shared by Dell, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, and a group of smaller makers like Sony and Toshiba — is nine points down from Apple’s, at 77. This is the largest gap between the leader and the second position in ACSI’s survey history.
These second-place Windows makers have all enjoyed small increases since the last survey. Dell has increased by three percent; Acer, the maker of Gateway and eMachines; and the smaller computer makers are up by four percent. The Compaq division at HP, still at the bottom with an unchanged score of 74, was the only major manufacturer that did not increase.
Recovery from Vista
Part of the reason for the increase in satisfaction for Windows machines, Fornell said, is that they “appear to have recovered from the problems associated with the Windows Vista software.” Less…