Apple’s iPad Regains The Top Spot In J.D. Power's Latest Satisfaction Survey
May 7, 2014
Overall tablet satisfaction has declined as more value-priced brands have entered the marketplace. Nonetheless, Apple regained the top spot in J.D. Power’s first tablet satisfaction study of 2014.
The survey found that Apple ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction with a score of 830. No. 2 Samsung received a score of 822. Rounding out the top five are Asus (820), Amazon (817), and Acer followed (769). The industry average is 821.
Last fall, Samsung overtook Apple in tablet customer satisfaction. Samsung ranked first with 835 points while Apple was second with 833 points.
Among the findings in the latest survey:
The study measures satisfaction across five factors, in order of importance: performance (28 percent), ease of operation (22 percent), features (22 percent), styling and design (17 percent), and cost (11 percent). Apple scored highest in every category except price. In March, J.D. Power and Associates ranked Apple’s iPhone the top smartphone in terms of customer satisfaction for an eighth year in a row. One month later, Apple smartphone devices ranked highest among wireless carriers, according to the organization’s 2014 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study. The 2014 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study — Volume 1 is based on evaluating the experiences of 2,513 tablet owners who have owned their current device for less than one year. See also: Tablet Growth Slows As Apple’s iPad Remains On Top, and T-Mobile Continues Its Disruption By Announcing New Apple iPad Deals.
- Lower price is the No.1 reason for tablet choice in 2014, with 25 percent of current tablet owners citing price as the main reason for selecting their current brand, compared with 21 percent in 2013. Features offered and brand reputation are the next most-frequently cited reasons for selecting a tablet device (22% and 21%, respectively).
- Since 2012, the average purchase price of a tablet has decreased by $53 ($337 in 2014 vs. $390 in 2012).
- Overall satisfaction has decreased by 18 points to 835 on a 1,000-point scale in 2014 from 853 in 2012. The largest decline in satisfaction is in the ease of operation factor, with substantial decreases in two attributes over the three-year time frame: navigation (8.30 vs. 8.52, respectively, on a 10-point scale) and adjusting tablet settings (8.30 vs. 8.50, respectively).
