Apple's Macs and iPads continue to have the highest satisfaction score among PC and tablet makers in 2020, according to new data shared today by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
In the 2020 Household Appliance and Electronics Report, Apple earned an ACSI score of 82, a one point drop from the score that it earned in 2019. Apple's satisfaction score beat out Samsung (81), Acer (78), Amazon (78), ASUS (77), Dell (77), HP (77), and others.
The score includes laptops, tablets, and desktop machines, but when splitting them out, Samsung and Apple are tied for customer satisfaction when it comes to tablets, according to the ACSI. Apple and Samsung also dominate laptop rankings, while there are narrower margins for desktop machines.
When it comes to overall customer satisfaction ratings across all manufacturers, desktop PCs, notebooks, and tablets still lag behind overall smartphone satisfaction, with desktops continuing to have the highest average satisfaction ratings.
The overall industry rankings mimic results from the cell phone industry, where Apple and Samsung have long been locked in a two-way battle at the top for customer satisfaction. Despite slipping 1%, Apple leads the PC industry with an ACSI score of 82 that matches its rating in the cell phone industry. Samsung again holds second place, just a point lower at 81--a score that also matches its cell phone rating.
Both Apple and Samsung have shown high and stable customer satisfaction for the past five years--separated by just a point in all but one of those years. Apple continues to beat the field across the entire customer experience, receiving its highest mark for design. Samsung shines when it comes to value, rating best in class among all PC makers.
Factors that influence customer satisfaction ratings include design, graphics and sound quality, availability of accessories, software and apps, ease of operation, system crashes, and processor speed.
To create its scoring system and compile device scores, the ACSI uses data from interviews with 14,698 customers to analyze customer satisfaction with personal computers, computer software, household appliances, TVs, and more. Customers surveyed were asked to evaluate their experiences with recently purchased products of the largest manufacturers.