As more households continue to adopt tablets, the act of sharing these devices has substantial influence on the purchase-decision process and on future brand selection, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study–Volume 1.
Now in its second year, the study measures tablet owner satisfaction among those who have owned their tablet for one year or less. Satisfaction is measured across five key factors (in order of importance): performance (26%); ease of operation (22%); styling and design (19%); features (17%); and cost (16%).
The study finds that 51 percent of tablet owners share their device with at least one other person. While the incidence differs across brands, tablet manufacturers may benefit from promoting shared usage as a selling point, as satisfaction increases when more people use one tablet device. When a tablet is only used by one person, overall satisfaction is 824 (on a 1,000-point scale), 28 points lower than when a tablet is shared by four or more persons (852).
“It is somewhat unexpected to find that although 64 percent of tablet owners were the sole decision-maker involved in their device purchase, many of them share their tablet with someone else,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of telecommunications services at J.D. Power and Associates, in a statement. “It is important that manufacturers understand this dynamic and try to provide an exceptional experience for all users since this may improve future business prospects, as high satisfaction through sharing a tablet device may result in owners handing down their tablet to a family member or friend, and the likelihood of repurchasing a new tablet from the same brand and running the same operating system increases.”
In fact, 41 percent of tablet owners who share their device among four or more persons indicate they “definitely will” repurchase their next tablet from their current tablet manufacturer, compared with 28 percent among those who do not share their device with any other person. This shared usage is not limited to adults. Nearly one-half (46%) of tablet owners have children who also use their tablet. Among owners who indicate they share their device with children, 30 percent have downloaded education apps, compared with 16 percent among those who do not share their device with children.
Tablets are also being used for business activities, with 20 percent of owners indicating they use their tablet for this purpose. Owners of tablets that originally evolved from e-readers are not as likely to use their device to engage in business activity. While tablet owners are beginning to engage in business activities with their device, just 31 percent of employers contribute to the price or reimburse their employees for the entire tablet purchase price, a 3-percentage-point decrease from 2012. This may be an indication that some companies may be promoting a “bring your own device” (BYOD) strategy.
For the second consecutive study, Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of tablets in overall owner satisfaction. Apple achieves a score of 836 and performs well in four factors: performance; ease of operation; styling and design; and features.
The 2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study–Volume 1 findings are based on experiences evaluated by 1,857 tablet owners. The study was fielded in February 2013.
Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Related articles:
J.D. Power: Apple iPad ranks highest in tablet customer satisfaction – September 13, 2012
J.D. Power: Apple ranks highest in smartphone customer satisfaction for 9th consecutive time – March 21, 2013
Of course satisfaction on price was low because everyone wants everything for nothing. The closer you can get to that price the more you’ll sell, but satisfaction in every other category will suffer. Why is it that people don’t consider their satisfaction with price in the context of the other parameters?
Some people know the price of everything but the value of nothing.
That is the true true.
As with many studies, the iPad number in this study represents more than 50% of all responses. Of the 1857 polled here, how many we’re iPad owners?
And given that, what would be the new average of the ‘rest of the tablets’ if Apple’s weughted 836 score were removed?
Good point
The percentage of iPad owners is too low
Apple iPad has a much higher percentage of ownership than 50%.
Apple needs to offer multiple user accounts on iPads.
Hopefully we will see this at WWDC
There is very little differentiation among the top five vendors – high of 836 pts to a low of 818 pts. That is only about 2%. Either all tablets are pretty much the same (and we know that is not true), or the survey is poorly designed.
I didn’t see M$. How un-sad.
The dot rating tells it. The numerical ratings may be close but the dot ratings are not. The also rans range from two to three out of five dots while iPads are five out of five. . . Regardless of the numerical rating being close.
So the success and how good a device is perceived to be has to do with how greedy and selfish a person is or how that household is functioning in general. That highlights people’s inability to make clear and independent choices and judgements. How ever. One can exploit this phenomena buy increasing a device’s ability to easily be used by many different people in a private and effective manner.