Customers not as happy with iPhone as they were last year
The American Customer Satisfaction Index shows Apple remains on top, but it's declining while Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung are rising. — The iPhone 5 — More customers are satisfied with Apple's phones than any other handsets …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's handset reputation had been a durable advantage: the iPhone widened its satisfaction lead over BlackBerry in 2010. In early 2013, Apple remained the leading U.S. smartphone maker, even as Samsung gained share, making customer sentiment an important counterweight to shipment rankings.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index still places Apple first, but its declining score alongside gains by Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung indicates that the quality-perception gap is narrowing rather than reinforcing Apple's market lead.
First-order effects
- Apple retains the top satisfaction position but loses some of the brand-quality advantage that has differentiated the iPhone.
- Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung gain survey evidence to support product and carrier-facing marketing against the iPhone.
Second-order effects
- Samsung's rising share and improving satisfaction give it a stronger basis to challenge Apple on both scale and customer experience, rather than treating those as separate contests.
- Apple faces greater pressure to use software, services, and handset execution to defend loyalty as rival satisfaction scores converge.
Third-order effects
- If satisfaction scores continue to compress, premium smartphone competition shifts from a clear brand-reputation hierarchy toward frequent comparisons of product experience among several credible vendors.
The trend: The smartphone market is moving from an iPhone-led satisfaction advantage toward tighter competition in which customer experience and market share increasingly reinforce one another.