The American Customer Satisfaction Index ranking for the Telecommunications and Information industry sector this year is now available, and shows Apple and Samsung tied with equal customer satisfaction scores of 80 out of 100. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4, however, beat out the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on individual model satisfaction, scoring 86 compared to the iPhone 6 line, the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5, all of which scored 82.
While Apple scored a tie with Samsung in overall customer satisfaction, it is worth noting that this came about as a result of a one-percent increase in satisfaction from Apple buyers, and a one-percent drop in satisfaction among Samsung buyers. Motorola came in third overall with a score of 79, while BlackBerry took fourth place by scoring a 78, a five-point increase from last year and the most dramatic change listed. Following BlackBerry was HTC (with a 77 score), Microsoft Mobile (formerly Nokia) at 75 (a three-point drop), LG (74) and “all others,” with a combined average score of 71.
Apple’s long-awaited and much-lauded redesign of its iconic iPhone may have set new [sales] records,” the report said, “but its newer models do not appear to have gained any advantage over Samsung’s flagship smartphones when it comes to user satisfaction.” A likely factor in the success of the Galaxy Note series in overall ratings is its larger-than-average screen size, which customers who can only afford one mobile device tend to value highly. The increase in screen size has also kept interest in the iPhone 6 lineup high past its holiday quarter.
In individual models, one interesting side note in the report is that the now-discontinued iPhone 5 outscored both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in customer satisfaction, with a score of 80 compared to a 78 for the iPhone 5s and a 77 for the iPhone 5c. Outside of the Apple-Samsung rivalry, the Moto X saw the highest ranking with an ACSI score of 81. Out of the top 20 models ranked, the Galaxy S4 Mini had the lowest score of 72, with even the long-discontinued iPhone 4 and 4s beating the unit.
The survey was conducted in the first two months of the year, and involved some 14,000 randomly-chosen smartphone buyers.
