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Apr 12, 2001
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J.D. Power today announced (via BGR) the latest results of its semi-annual reports on consumer satisfaction among U.S. smartphone and traditional mobile phone manufacturers. Apple once again topped the list in the smartphone category, marking its sixth consecutive victory in the survey.
For smartphones, the key factors are: performance (35%); ease of operation (24%); features (21%); and physical design (20%).

For a sixth consecutive time, Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of smartphones in customer satisfaction. Apple achieves a score of 838 and performs well in all factors, particularly in ease of operation and features. HTC (801) follows Apple in the smartphone rankings.
The survey also measured mobile app usage among smartphone users, finding social networking apps and games to be most popular with over two-thirds of users having downloaded such apps. Over half of smartphone users have also downloaded entertainment apps and travel apps such as for mapping and weather.

Article Link: Apple Again Tops J.D. Power Rankings of Smartphone Consumer Satisfaction
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
When even the lowly 3GS outsells a lot of newer smartphones, you know Apple's got their thumb on the winning formula between hardware and software.
 

zin

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2010
491
6,617
United Kingdom
Perhaps an event is on the horizon now. We know how they like to showcase this award every year in their keynotes (and there's nothing wrong with that).
 

elppa

macrumors 68040
Nov 26, 2003
3,233
151
It is interesting it is done by manufacturer and not platform.

So a HTC Windows Phone might perform better than a HTC Android Phone. Or a customer may prefer the features on a Samsung Android Phone over a Samsung Windows Phone…
 

Zepaw

macrumors 65816
Apr 18, 2010
1,294
0
MN
I love Apple/iOS/iPhoen and would give it 5 stars across the board but it is awesome to see a majority agree.

Well, better specs don't necessarily mean better performance. It's a combination of hardware and the software written for it.

Exactly. I loved the Samsung Infuse hardware but more times than not the OS couldn't keep up. Same thing when I had a Droid X. The only issues I ever had with my iPhones were from my own clumsiness.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
Wonder how they define performance & features. Both HTC & Samsung have more/better spec.'ed devices.

Overall USER EXPERIENCE.

Hard to quantify (it has very little to do with raw specs) but easy to recognize. Hence, the general consumer response to Apple products. Ask anyone what this means exactly, and they will probably find it difficult to articulate. But they are nonetheless drawn to it. It's recognizable.

The closest approximation is what results from the synergy between hardware and software. Apple's nailed it.
 

JackAttack!

macrumors member
Nov 3, 2009
42
0
Like a pretty lady

I'm an AV tech and I have been working with our General Contractor (he is in his 60s) on a new buildout. A few months ago he expressed his frustrations with his Blackberry and trying to attach photos to an email. I showed him how to do it in about 10 seconds on my iPhone 4.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, he comes up to me with his new iPhone 4. He explained how much he liked it by saying

'It's like a pretty girl, that likes me!"

Enough said.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
I'm an AV tech and I have been working with our General Contractor (he is in his 60s) on a new buildout. A few months ago he expressed his frustrations with his Blackberry and trying to attach photos to an email. I showed him how to do it in about 10 seconds on my iPhone 4.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, he comes up to me with his new iPhone 4. He explained how much he liked it by saying

'It's like a pretty girl, that likes me!"

Enough said.

That's actually a pretty brilliant encapsulation of what's going on.

It seems that Apple devices provide an extra element of pleasure and comfort while an action is being executed on them - and it doesn't come from one single element, but rather, the unit as a whole (which points to the strength of the overall platform/ecosystem.) Yes, you get the results that an effective tool would give you, but there's that extra element that makes you want to keep using it.

Again, tough to articulate. Your colleague used what comes naturally - a metaphor (or more specifically, a simile.) This is probably far more expressive than shooting for an exact definition.
 

QuarterSwede

macrumors G3
Oct 1, 2005
9,778
2,026
Colorado Springs, CO
It seems that Apple devices provide an extra element of pleasure and comfort while an action is being executed on them. Yes, you get the results that an effective tool would give you, but there's that extra element that makes you want to keep using it.
I completely understand this and it drives me nuts that some of my friends don't. It's almost become another topic to avoid like politics.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
I completely understand this and it drives me nuts that some of my friends don't.

It's a subtle way of thinking. Does it come down to taste? I don't know.

It might come from the drive or urge to actually *look* for these things in life (and recognize them) - in objects, natural elements, etc.

I like to use the video below as an example. Who else in tech would use typesetting from beautiful books as an example of technology that delights? You'll need part engineer, part designer, part poet to understand how that is significant and more importantly, why that sort of thinking should be integrated into tech. It's an appreciation of subtlety. Once you follow this line of thinking and explore it a bit, you begin to understand what Steve Jobs means by "culture" and "taste" as it relates to tech.

Consumers can certainly feel it and recognize it, but mostly at an emotional level. Which is really all that is needed. Mission accomplished. However, it's nice to be able to explore it further on a conceptual level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOgOP_aqqtg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLE933E4B46987A9BB
 

wovel

macrumors 68000
Mar 15, 2010
1,839
161
America(s)!
It is interesting it is done by manufacturer and not platform.

So a HTC Windows Phone might perform better than a HTC Android Phone. Or a customer may prefer the features on a Samsung Android Phone over a Samsung Windows Phone…

Platforms don't have customers or customer satisfaction, the companies that make and sell products do. Android is not a unified platform that should be counted as a single thing for any purpose. (Unless you consider capable of supporting the most basic featureless apps something worth counting).
 

scottparker999

macrumors member
Aug 4, 2009
98
0
My cooker can grill toast, it can boil water, and it can heat up my beans. However, i prefer to use my toaster, kettle and microwave.

Apple is my toaster, kettle and microwave.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
Did anyone else notice that across the board the star ratings were the same from category to category for each company?

It's like they came up with an overall score for each company first, and then copied and pasted it into each category score for the company.
 

hammerbang

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2010
1
0
Wonder how they define performance & features. Both HTC & Samsung have more/better spec.'ed devices.

I've had half a dozen smartphones before. Nokia, Sony, Palm, Samsung.. I'm from the Philippines. Believe it or not, before North America was using smartphones, we already had smartphones available to every pedestrian.

My point-- after experiencing iPhone I saw how clumsy and totally crappy all the others were. Confusing interface, sluggish response, button chaos. Yes they had some more functions but the ones you like on paper but never get to use them or need them anyway.

iPhone made it easier and smarter. Look at the design of its predecessors and it's hard to deny that iPhone changed smartphones forever. The 5 stars are truly deserve and beyond challenge.
 

rosalindavenue

macrumors 6502a
Dec 13, 2003
855
282
Virginia, USA
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_10 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E600 Safari/6533.18.5)

Yet Consumer Reports still doesn't recommend the iPhone 4.
 

scottparker999

macrumors member
Aug 4, 2009
98
0
Did anyone else notice that across the board the star ratings were the same from category to category for each company?

It's like they came up with an overall score for each company first, and then copied and pasted it into each category score for the company.

Not true for HTC, Moto, and RIM.
 

JNSC

macrumors member
Jul 9, 2011
37
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

A relative of mine is on US Cellular, and I had shown her an iPhone in an apple store. She said she really wanted one. Now, at that time her phone was pretty outdated so when the store by her house was offering an android something-or-other for free, she got it, but when I showed her some more stuff you can do on an iPhone-and how you go about doing it-she still says she wants an iPhone.

Don't blast me with technical complications, but if apple opened up to ALL carriers, they would dominate so much more than they already do (which by no means is a little amount, just saying they'd be all over everything).
 
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