J.D. Power: Apple iPad ranks highest in tablet customer satisfaction

Tablets are transforming the way content is consumed and challenging the usage patterns for personal computers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study released today.

The inaugural Tablet Satisfaction Study finds that tablet owners spend 7.5 hours per week browsing the Internet, watching videos, listening to music, and reading books on their device, compared with spending 9.6 hours per week on a personal computer for the same activities. Overall satisfaction is 857 (on a 1,000-point scale) among owners who view three or more hours of video per week on their tablet, which is 45 points higher than among those who do not. In addition, those who spend three or more hours viewing video content are more likely to purchase another tablet from their current manufacturer in the future than are those who do not watch as much video content (90% vs. 81%, respectively).

“As tablet computing, multimedia, display, and application offerings continue to evolve, their impact on usage patterns will continue to grow,” said Dr. Uma S. Jha, senior director of mobile devices at J.D. Power and Associates, in the press release. “Tablets are a force in the marketplace that offer a great alternative to laptops and netbooks.”

The study measures tablet owner satisfaction among those who have owned their tablet for less than two years. Satisfaction is measured across five key factors. In order of importance, they are: performance (26%), ease of operation (22%), styling and design (19%), features (17%), and price (16%).

Apple ranks highest, achieving a score of 848, and performs well in four factors: performance; ease of operation; styling and design; and features. Amazon follows Apple in the rankings and performs particularly well in the price factor by offering smaller screened (7-in.) tablets.

J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study

The study also finds the following key tablet usage patterns and purchase trends:

• Tablet owners who also have a smartphone spend 40 percent more time browsing the Internet on their tablet than on their smartphone. Similarly, they spend 56 percent more time using gaming apps on their tablet than on their smartphone.
• One-fourth (25%) of owners indicate they use their tablet for business purposes.
• More than one-third (37%) of tablet owners say they are likely to buy a new tablet within the next 12 months.
• Among tablet owners who are highly satisfied (those rating their device 10 on a 10-point scale), 90 percent say they are likely to purchase additional consumer electronic devices from the same manufacturer.
• Three-fourths (75%) of tablet owners indicate they were the sole decision-maker in purchasing their device.
• More than one-half (61%) of owners share their device with at least one other person.

The 2012 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study is based on experiences reported by 1,985 tablet owners. The study was fielded in July 2012.

For more information on customer satisfaction with wireless service, wireless retail sales, cell phone handsets, customer care, prepaid wireless service and business wireless service, please visit JDPower.com.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates

MacDailyNews Take: As with iPhones, this is the first of many such victories!

Related articles:
J.D. Power: Apple ranks highest in smartphone customer satisfaction for 8th consecutive time – September 6, 2012
J.D. Power: Apple ranks highest in smartphone customer satisfaction for 7th consecutive time – March 16, 2012
J.D. Power: Apple ranks highest in smartphone customer satisfaction for 6th consecutive time – September 8, 2011

6 Comments

  1. I cry bogus — that on a 1,000 point scale Apple just barely beats Amazon is a joke! Clearly these users aren’t real tablet users. They should run this study by enterprise users and see those results — it would reflect something closer to market realities of 80 to 20.

    1. Wow in the heck rates the 1,000 point then?

      And to edge out Amazon and SamDung is silly ….. Apple should be double those guys …..

      I know grandkids fight over the iPad, daughter and soninlaw won’t touch …. In that house they would of hit 250 for Amazon and 999 for Apple ….

    2. One of the key indicators was price. I’d imagine Apple scored quite low on that front. Although here on MDN, we compare apples to apples, in the real world,people will compare a 7″ to a 10″ tablet and ignore the size, focusing on the price.

      Satisfaction is more than just about apps and usability, it’s also about feeling that you got good value for money.

      This is why Apple NEEDS to release a smaller, substantially less expensive, iPad. They don’t NEED to make the full 40% profit on the sale. They can afford to reduce that.

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