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Despite being knocked off their laurels over the past few years by Android and the manufacturers that make them, Apple has always taken pride in a few different things. Revenue, day-one sales, adoption rates of new platforms — they’ll spew those numbers at you in a New York minute during a keynote speech.
One of those things they like to tout is that they are often the recipient of customer satisfaction awards from the likes of J.D Powers and other consumer trust groups. Will that be the case in the next top survey in the industry? Tough to say, but the American Consumer Satisfaction Index’s latest poll suggests Apple has been taken down a notch.
The company fell from its previous satisfaction rate of 81 down to 79, with the drop likely being attributed to #Bendgate and a perceived notion that Apple’s reputation for superior build quality has taken a hit. We all know #Bendgate affected far fewer people than the voices on the internet would lead you to believe, but that vocal minority’s cries reached a lot of ears and we wouldn’t be surprised if it had a significant impact.
But even more of a story is that not only has Apple dropped, but Samsung has taken a considerable climb. The company has come up from their previous score of 76 to 81, effectively trumping Apple to become the top smartphone manufacturer in terms of customer satisfaction.
To hear most Android fans tell it, Samsung’s use of plastic and an uninspiring design, coupled with the company’s oft-maligned TouchWiz interface, are the sole downfalls of Samsung. It’s true that the company has taken a major sales hit in 2014 — so much so that executives have agreed to take paycuts in the midst of structural changes — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a ton of people who love them some Samsung.
This is good news for the South Korean company headed into 2014 as they are expected to introduce their biggest iteration of the Galaxy S line yet. We expect a metal unibody build and a refined user interface for Android 5.0 Lollipop while still maintaining the cutting edge features Samsung’s known for. They’ll just have to hope it’s enough to turn “satisfaction” into “sales” to prevent any more bleeding. Hit the source link for the full rankings.
[via ACSI]
I still don’t get why people are so against plastic, it takes impact and scratches better than metal. The 1 thing I don’t like about my N6 is the metal band around the sides as I’m afraid the blue colouring will chip away and scratch, I don’t have that fear with the plasticy back.
People want to have devices that have solid build qualities. Look at the Note 2 vs the Note 4. One has a flimsy plastic cover back while the other has metal edges and a less flimsy plastic back. The Note 4 feels like it’s more durable than a Note 2. The problem with metal w/ color options is that the paint can chip away and expose metal after awhile. Most people put cases on their phones, so build quality is not as important as people make of it.
It is only journalists that rip on Samsung all day. I see Galaxies all over the place and for the most part, folks are generally happy with them. No different than folks with iPhones. Believe it or not, people that own iDevices don’t nut themselves every time they touch it like some folks on The Verge do. Nobody picks up their phone and says, “It’s made of plastic” because most people have cases on their phones. Literally.
Samsung just needs to continue with the ease of use on the features, continue to promote their ecosystem within Android and try to get others to purchase Samsung devices, and ultimately design devices that inspire folks and continue to advertise. They do update their phones (though they can be more timely).
I’m not sure I am a Samsung person myself but my wife and mom love their Note 3’s
Not just that, it’s the tech site readers that also rip too much on Touchwiz and Samsung’s Galaxy lines. I have criticized it from time to time, but I still stayed loyal to the line since I like Touchwiz’s features + superior battery life + great camera modules. I doubt I will go back to the S line, but the Note line is the best thusfar.
The most annoying type of tech reader is the elitist Nexus fan as far as Android Tech Sites. They rant and rave about how good their Nexus 6 is, but fail to realize that the phone has more than it’s fair share of issues. Then they say nothing is good unless it’s pure Android. Bashing other OEMs’ build quality is also quite common.
If you look at Samsung’s mobile division, they’ve done a remarkable job from marketing to providing good top of the line phones and services if you want to be objective. Touchwiz used to be very memory intensive to the point that lag was “just part of the user experience and you can’t do much about it.” Now, lag is as common as other OEMs including Apple (at least on the Note 4.) Samsung may not be a pioneer in terms of innovating each product, but it’s hard to do so. I mean I do give them credit for the Galaxy Gear S, Galaxy Tab, Note, S Line, and SD Card quality.
Like you, I’m an exceedingly happy Note 4 owner. To me, the stock Android folks are the worst. Folks in mass don’t want stock Android. If they did, they would clamor for it. They would buy millions of nexus 5 and 6 and 7 and 9 devices. They don’t though.
Another reason stock folks like it are fast updates. I’d rather have a slow update that works well than a day update like what you see on ios8 where signal disappears and apps crash… Or lollipop where RAM is being eaten randomly. Give me a delayed fully functional update. Did I mention I really like my Note 4?
For the most part, I have really liked my Notes (2&3) that I’ve had. Only draw backs are the amount of specialization that goes into them that makes getting updates take forever and lack of fully functioning ROMs. (I’ve searched high and low on XDA, not a single ROM for the Note 3 functions without faults.)
I’ve also noticed that Samsung copied Apple on the Note 3 by using glass that cracks if you just look at it wrong. I haven’t used or stored my Note 3 any differently than any other phone I’ve used (including the Note 2) and yet it somehow cracks like crazy where nothing else has even seen a scratch.
Samsung does really well with working in nice features and their cameras are some of the best on any Android phone. (Cameras are the first thing I test on any phone I get my hands on and it’s usually how I decide which phone I’ll buy next.)
Love my note 4. And we’re heading into 2015
Apple also has the issue of breaking camera lenses. My buddy broke his ‘sapphire crystal’ camera lens on his iPhone 6.
Is that Samsung’s score or Samsung mobiles. I know an apple fanboy coworker who only buys Samsung TVs cause he loves em.
I’m an apple user and I bought a fancy Samsung washer and dryer pair this holiday season and they are pretty cool. Love that chime / song it plays when it finishes a load of clothes :)
We all know what? Bendgate had affected far fewer people than we’re led to believe? Why because Apple said there were only 9? I’m still seeing new people say their device bent. What’s so hard to understand here? The phone can and does bend and its not a hit or miss thing with different devices. You apply the pressure whether its in a case or not and it’ll bend. No other phones don’t bend as easily.
I’ve never understood why the Android blogs apologize for Apple like their scared of them or something. I assume some of it is trying to look mature or to be the bigger person. But that doesn’t mean you have to cover for the problems in other camps. That just looks foolish. The truth shall set you free.
Real talk.
Any day of the week
It’s been like 2 months already… There are more than 9 cases a lot more
Im still using the S3 that I preordered. Better phones out there, sure. Worth the price, not for me. I still haven’t VZW unlimited data.
Smartphones are not cheap. If you go with a Nexus 5 or Oneplus you might run into issues such as battery life (Nexus 5) and Oneplus (screen yellowing and availability issues).
Since my S3 I’ve had an HTC One M7 and LG G2 and the S3 is still my favorite.
Thank you for reaffirming my choice to wait. I bought my wife the 2014 Moto X and it is sweet. Not worth replacing mine though.
The same happens with Samsung, few android purists cry every time Samsung launch a new device because TW the materials, etc and internet make them louder but the reality is people like them.
I prefer pure Android (I like updates), but I also enjoy TouchWiz.
The people who don’t are just loud.
Love my Note 4, but cannot help but critique Samsung’s customer satisfaction. I had an abysmal experience with the S5. I went through so many of them. I really think the Note and S lines are night and day in terms of product quality. However, other companies offer more customer friendly perks: HTC w/ its “Customer Advantage,” Google replacing Nexus screens, and Apple allowing warranty exchanges in store. Those provide piece of mind experiences for the end user.
Those sound like customer service satisfaction, not straight up customer satisfaction. I dunno why, but they always seem to measure those as two different things.
The fact that Apple (and now Google) thinks that they have enough money to throw around to offer screen replacements for careless people who break their screens is not really good customer service.
It’s actually just fixing someone’s mistakes for them because they don’t think and care enough. We do it in customer service retail all the time against my recommendations because it just gives people the idea that they can screw up up out of indifference and lack of forethought and just get someone else to pay for undesirable qualities, their behaviour and the consequences of their aforementioned causes of screwups.
It is also cheaper to replace than repair for some companies though. I like options though. People are pretty careless with devices nevertheless.
Why is everyone bytching and complaining bout plastic phones for? Would u idiots rather have a phone made from GLASS N then CRACKS?
As long as the material covering the screen is as clear as glass and feels like glass, I don’t care in the slightest what the rest of the device is made from. It goes in a thermoplastic case anyway.
Buy an iPhone… And stop small talk. Well said “Samsung’s use of plastic and an uninspiring design”
Apple didn’t pay for the survey this time
Outside the internet, everyone I’ve met loves touchwiz and doesn’t mind the plastic. In fact they like it cause its more durable. We have to remember we are the minority not them.
” with the drop likely being attributed to #Bendgate ”
Problem is that the survey data are from May 2014, several month before the release of the iPhone 6. But I guess we should not expect serious reporting from any tech blog nowadays, especially concerning Apple on a pro-Android web site.