In a recent study conducted by Waban, Mass.-based research firm Temkin Experience Ratings, Apple delivers the best computing experience in the IT industry.
This study was based on 10,000 customer interviews that asked about overall customer experiences within 19 industries. In the high tech sector, Apple took top spot with a rating of 67 per cent, placing it 119th overall out of 268 companies across 19 industries.
Meanwhile Hewlett-Packard came in a close second with a rating of 64 per cent and an overall ranking of 144th. This is Apple’s fourth straight year as the highest-rated computer maker, and HP maintained its second-place position from last year. At the other end of the spectrum, Sony and the old Compaq brand tied for the lowest-rated computer maker, each with a rating of 55 per cent and overall ranking of 232nd. While Sony was also on the bottom in 2013, this is the lowest ranking that Compaq has ever received. HP, which acquired Compaq back in 2002, is still part of the company’s product portfolio. However, Compaq is considered HP’s low-end entry point products. They are available on Compaq.com.
Bruce Temkin, managing partner of the research firm, said Apple continues to be the customer experience pace-setter in the computer market, but HP has become a very strong contender.
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Lenovo improved their position from last year by seven percentage points, while Apple grew by three per cent. In terms of declines Compaq dropped by four per cent and Dell by just one per cent.
The ratings of all computer makers in the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings are as follows:
- Apple 67 per cent;
- HP 64 per cent;
- Toshiba 61 per cent;
- Acer 61 per cent;
- Lenovo 61 per cent;
- Gateway 59 per cent;
- Dell 59 per cent;
- eMachines 59 per cent;
- Sony 55 per cnet; and
- Compaq 55 per cent.
Overall, the computer making industry averaged a 62 per cent rating in the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings and tied for 11th place out of 19 industries. It was also one of the 15 industries to improve its rating over the past year, increasing its average by 1.5 percentage points.
Now in its fourth year, the Temkin Experience Ratings examines the quality of the customer experience delivered by 268 organizations across 19 industries: airlines, appliance makers, auto dealers, banks, car rental agencies, computer makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, grocery chains, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, parcel delivery services, retailers, software firms, TV service providers, and wireless carriers.
To generate these ratings, Temkin Group asked consumers to evaluate their experiences with a company across three dimensions: functional (can you do what you want to do?), accessible (how easy is it to work with the company?), and emotional (how do you feel about the interactions?). Temkin Group then averaged these three scores to produce a company’s Temkin Experience Rating.
In these ratings, a score of 70 per cent or above is considered good, and a score of 80 per cent or above is considered excellent.