03/27, 3:27am
Overall quality of experience slowly improving, ratings show
A study of 10,000 US computer users by customer satisfaction analyst Tempkin Group has once again ranked Apple as the top manufacturer for overall "computer experience" quality, which is defined as having excellent functionality, being accessible and generating the strongest positive emotions. This is the third year running that Apple has topped the list, but HP took second place -- losing by only two percentage points, and with a higher "functionality" rating than Apple. Sony and Lenovo were ranked least favorably of the 10 manufacturers rated.
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03/01, 10:39pm
Repair firm compares various tablets, finds most not easily fixable
Repair and how-to guide site iFixit has compiled their teardown and repair-guide results on the top tablets into one comprehensive report, and ranks Apple's iPad lineup (with the exception of the original iPad) very poorly for repairability, though it is Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet that gets the lowest possible mark. The Windows 8-based Dell XPS 10 gets the highest marks for being easy to disassemble, but is dinged (like most tablets) for having the LCD fused to the protective glass layer. Offsetting this, a number of studies have shown the iPads to be by far the most reliable tablet.
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05/17, 12:40am
Samsung, RIM least liked by US consumers
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has released its latest findings on the state of US consumer satisfaction in the areas of cellphone manufacturers and wireless carriers. For the former, there was one runaway winner -- Apple. For the latter, Sprint was able to score a win among a tight field. Overall satisfaction was up an incremental 0.1 percent to a 75.9 score out of a possible 100.
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05/01, 2:15am
Dramatically lower complaints about service
A cross-industry survey done by consumer research firm Vocalabs has found that not only is Apple the most well-regarded provider of customer service in the tech industry, but across several different industries. The firm found Apple with dramatically lower incidences of unhappy clients following a tech support call, particularly in the crucial customer-satisfaction are of call representative language barriers. The survey compared a total of 12 computer, telecom and banking providers.
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03/26, 2:25pm
Mac demand
Although the U.S. economic slowdown has led to a pullback in PC spending by both consumers and corporations, planned purchases of Apple computers remain relatively strong, even in the slower buying environment according to a new study by ChangeWave research. Apple is the leader among consumers who plan to buy a laptop (31 percent) over the next 90 day. Similarly, Apple planned desktop computer purchases (28 percent; down 1 point) are close to record levels. The study also finds that Apple continues to set the standard for customer satisfaction among corporate respondents who use the Leopard operating system – with 53 percent saying they are Very Satisfied with the software. In comparison, Windows XP Pro has a 40 percent Very Satisfied rating and Microsoft Vista Business achieved just 8 percent.
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02/28, 10:10am
iPhone best seller for O2
O2 today revealed that the iPhone is its fasting selling device for the UK, noting that the device has helped it achieve 9.5-percent revenue growth during the final quarter for 2007. While O2 did not provide specific sales numbers for the device alone, it said that the iPhone led its strongest quarter on record, adding 483,000 customers and 276,000 contracts to its roster. These latest results are the first to show the effects of the iPhone on the company's UK sales, according to Pocket-lint.co.uk.
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12/27, 12:05am
Apple high on satisfaction
Apple's holiday customer satisfaction through its online and brick-and-mortar stores remains high this year, leading both sales categories, while experiencing a slight dip since last year. According to a recent study by ForeSee Results, Apple received a 79-percent overall satisfaction rating out of the top 40 companies in the report, showing no loss or gain from last year's numbers. In terms of of satisfaction by sales channel, Apple netted 75-percent satisfaction in the "Manufacturer Direct" sales and 73-percent with its physical retail locations. These numbers are down 1.3-percent and 1.4-percent from last year, respectively, but were still high enough to earn Apple the top spot on the ForeSee study.
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