JD Power Smartphone Customer Satisfaction Study, rates the iPhone the highest in overall customer satisfaction among business wireless
smartphone users.
Apple ranks highest in overall smartphone
customer satisfaction with a score of 778 on a 1,000-point scale,
performing particularly well in the ease of operation, physical design
and handset feature factors. BlackBerry manufacturer RIM (703) and
Samsung (701) follow Apple in the rankings.
The study, measures business satisfaction from mobile phones offering advanced capabilities and personal
computer-like functionality--such as a BlackBerry or Treo. Overall
satisfaction is measured across five key factors. In order of
importance, they are: ease of operation (27%); operating system (24%);
physical design (21%); handset features (18%); and battery aspects
(10%)
The study also finds the following key smartphone business wireless usage patterns:
- Sixty-nine
percent of business smartphone users own a hands-free headset, and 74
percent of those owners use a wireless headset device. Motorola owners
report a higher incidence of using wireless headsets (86%), while only
60 percent of Apple iPhone owners report using a wireless headset
device. - Among smartphone users, 37 percent would like GPS
(global positioning system) capabilities on their device, 25 percent
would like Wi-Fi capabilities, 23 percent want touch screen and 15
percent would like to have voice recognition command for automatic
dialing. - The average reported purchase price of a smartphone
device is $216, compared with an average reported purchase price of
$261 in 2007. Apple owners report the highest average purchase price at
$337, while Motorola owners report the lowest device pricing at $169. - The
top five reasons given for choosing a smartphone brand are: Internet
capability (45%), ability to use e-mail account (41%), overall
design/style (39%), Bluetooth capabilities (37%) and keyboard style
(e.g., QWERTY) (37%). - Thirty-four percent of smartphone
owners say they download third-party software. Popular software
downloads among business users include games (49%), business
applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel (43%) and travel-related
programs (36%)
The study finds that one-fourth of
users report experiencing at least one software-related issue or
problem with their current smartphone device. The software-related
issues reported most often include the need to reboot the phone,
application malfunction/freeze and issues related to touch screen
malfunction. Among those owners who have experienced a software
problem, 44 percent report having to reboot their device at least once
on a weekly basis during the past 12 months, while 34 percent report
experiencing either an application malfunction or application freeze at
least once per week.
"Given that smartphones are actual
mini-computers, it's not unexpected that users experience
software-related issues," said Parsons. "However, with the increasing
number of features and applications that can be used on these devices,
both the devices and software platforms will need to be more reliable
if market penetration of smartphones is to increase over time. It's
critical for manufacturers to offer a complete package of functionality
that is easy to use and has minimal operation malfunctions."
The 2008 Business Wireless Smartphone Customer
Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 1,388 business wireless
customers who currently own a smartphone device. The study was fielded
between August and September 2008.
Visit JDPower.com to view customer satisfaction ratings for wireless service and carrier performance, call quality, customer care, retail sales and mobile phone handsets.