Consumer-oriented functionality smartphones score best according to The CFI Group Smartphone Satisfaction
Study, Smartphones, Providers, and the Customers Who Love (and Loathe) Them. The study found
little relationship between smartphone satisfaction and satisfaction
with the provider while the iPhone bested other smartphones for customer satisfaction while Android smartphone user were the heaviest web surfers.
Using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index to
compare smartphone platforms:
- The iPhone is the undisputed leader in
customer satisfaction, scoring 83 on a 100-point scale, 8% higher than
its nearest competitors. - Android and the Palm Pre (77) came in second in satisfaction.
- Research In Motion's BlackBerry (73) was third.
- Palm's Treo (70) came in forth.
- others" category, which includes Symbian and Windows Mobile, scored
66.
Among smartphone providers:
- Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile tie in overall
provider satisfaction, scoring 79. - Sprint scores 74.
- AT&T's non-iPhone
smartphone customers score 73,. - AT&T iPhone users rate AT&T 69.
The majority of new smartphone owners are using them for mostly personal
use, a departure from the early adopters that originally used
smartphones primarily for business. This new customer audience has much
higher expectations of the smartphone, and the platforms that satisfy
these needs rate the highest. Newer smartphones, with their better web browsers and applications, also encourage more network use. Web surfing tops the list of used features, especially for Android.
In addition to being the best in satisfaction, the Phone has the most
loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations. Ninety-two percent of current
iPhone respondents say they have their ideal phone, 90 percent have
recommended the phone, and 35 percent said they purchased their phone
because of a recommendation. Also, the iPhone is the most popular
alternative to any other smartphone.
But competition is catching up, and Android and Pre are the most
competitive with the iPhone, according to the study. What these
platforms have in common is the ability to deliver consumer-oriented
activities, like apps, an easy web-browsing experience, and multi-media
playback. Business-oriented smartphones, like Treo and early generation
BlackBerrys, are falling behind, whereas "generic" smartphones that run
Symbian and Windows Mobile are not even on the radar.
The study examined the relationship between satisfaction with the
smartphone and satisfaction with the provider and found that little
correlation exists. The iPhone, which is by far the leader in smartphone
satisfaction, has done little to help AT&T's customer satisfaction among
smartphone owners.
Verizon is the ideal provider for 86 percent of smartphone users
surveyed, yet only 38 percent of Verizon smartphone customers say their
current phone is their ideal smartphone, the lowest percentage of any
provider. Verizon has none of the most satisfying smartphones but still
maintains a leadership position in satisfaction on the perceived
strength of its network.
For AT&T, the opposite is true. It has the most satisfying smartphone
but lags in provider satisfaction, in part because of its network
problems associated with its iPhone customers' overwhelming data use.
AT&T's exclusive iPhone arrangement with Apple has been a double-edged
sword. While it acquired millions of new customers, half of iPhone
respondents said they would like to defect to another provider. Forty
percent of iPhone users surveyed switched providers to get the phone,
and these customers may be dragging down AT&T's satisfaction score. In
fact, iPhone customers that switched providers to get the device rated
AT&T 64, which is well behind iPhone users who did not switch, which
rated AT&T 72.
See full results of CFI Group Smartphone Satisfaction Survey at: www.cfigroup.com.