Apple reclaimed its spot as the highest ranked tablet manufacturer in J.D. Power's latest U.S. tablet customer satisfaction study. Apple earned a 5-star rating and scored 830 on a 1,000 point scale, edging out Samsung, which scored a second place 822.
The survey of 2,513 tablet owners found that Apple led its competitors in four of the five measured categories, including performance, ease of operation, features and styling and design. Apple trailed only in cost, which isn't surprising given the starting $299 price tag of Apple's iPad lineup. Number two Samsung ranked above-average in features, styling and design, and cost.
All is not rosy in the tablet market, however, with overall satisfaction among tablet owners on the decline, dropping 18 points to 835 in 2014 from a high of 853 in 2012. Ease of operation was the feature that showed the largest drop in satisfaction, with tablets taking longer to setup and becoming more complicated to use.
Not surprisingly, the most important feature cited by consumers when buying a tablet was cost, followed by features and brand reputation. Brand recognition is becoming increasingly important to consumers, beating out both manufacturer websites and personal recommendations as the reasons why they select a particular brand.
The survey of 2,513 tablet owners found that Apple led its competitors in four of the five measured categories, including performance, ease of operation, features and styling and design. Apple trailed only in cost, which isn't surprising given the starting $299 price tag of Apple's iPad lineup. Number two Samsung ranked above-average in features, styling and design, and cost.
All is not rosy in the tablet market, however, with overall satisfaction among tablet owners on the decline, dropping 18 points to 835 in 2014 from a high of 853 in 2012. Ease of operation was the feature that showed the largest drop in satisfaction, with tablets taking longer to setup and becoming more complicated to use.
“Since the inaugural U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study in 2012, a number of new tablet OEMs have entered the U.S. marketplace, differentiating themselves to satisfy a growing interest in owning a tablet,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of telecommunications services at J.D. Power. “Price has significantly impacted the marketplace. The average purchase price continues to drop and consumer expectations of tablet performance and features are different than they were for past products. Subsequently, overall satisfaction has declined, especially with ease of operation, as navigation features and functions have changed.”
Not surprisingly, the most important feature cited by consumers when buying a tablet was cost, followed by features and brand reputation. Brand recognition is becoming increasingly important to consumers, beating out both manufacturer websites and personal recommendations as the reasons why they select a particular brand.
Related Roundup: iPad
Tag: J.D. Power
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Neutral)
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56 months ago
I knew Samsung's lead wouldn't last long. Apple especially has the advantage in design.
56 months ago
The surprise is not that Apple regained the lead, but that it lost it in the first place.
Many still believe this was a mistake that JD Power didn't want to admit.
Let's look at last year's numbers:
As you can see, Apple won in everything but price, but still lost overall. What this means is that each category is not weighted the same.
JD Power gave the weigth of each category. Some The Verge commenter did the math considering the weights:
And guess what, it still doesn't add up.
Even when you consired that the total might have been calculated before the star ratings were rounded, it's mathematically impossible for Samsung to have a higher score with the category biases JD Power provided.
When questioned about the situation, JD Power's director Kirk Parsons answered:
The differential between the price category scores of the iPad and the score of the Samsung tablets that were included in the survey was large enough to “more than offset” the score in the other four categories.
Which is total bul***** considering the weights provided.Either JD Power should have provided the actual category biases they used to calculate the total, either they should have corrected the total using the initially provided category biases. Now they just decided to contradict maths instead without further justification.
tl;dr: Apple might never have lost it in the first place if JD Power didn't mess up their maths
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