Apple dethroned after 20 years? Know who joined it at the top of the American Satisfaction Index

The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report reveals that Samsung has forced a tie with Apple this year, despite the Cupertino company holding the top spot for nearly 20 years.

Apple ranks 1st in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in the PC category but has to share the spot with Samsung. (REUTERS)

After nearly a 20-year period of being the sole winner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in the category of Personal Computers (PCs), Apple has been forced to concede a tie by none other than its biggest smartphone rival - Samsung. For the unaware, ACSI measures customer satisfaction in three categories - personal computers, major household appliances, and televisions. It takes into account not just the device, but the experience that it offers, including the availability of apps/software, accessories, features, and even call center satisfaction.

Samsung joins Apple at the summit of ACSI

In the latest report, it has been revealed that Apple has been the sole winner in this category for the last 20 years but now has been joined at the summit of the American Customer Satisfaction Index by its fierce tech rival, Samsung. The report was based on over 14000 responses from customers chosen at random from July 2022 to June 2023.

Apple scored 83 points with its Mac and iPad, which is 1 point higher than last year. However, it still wasn't enough to make it the sole winner in this category as Samsung also scored the same points, having jumped 2 points since last year.

As per the report, desktop users are the most satisfied with 84 points, followed by laptop users (80 points), and tablet users (76 points). There is a 5-point difference between the highest scores which are Apple and Samsung (jointly tied at 83 points), and the lowest scorers which came out to be Amazon, Asus, Lenovo, and All Others (with 78 points each).

Customer experience was up in several trends such as design, graphics and sound quality, availability of apps, ease of operation, availability of accessories, processor speed, and features. However, it was down compared to last year when it comes to call center satisfaction and website satisfaction.

In terms of the ability to keep system crashes to a minimum, the scores remain the same as last year's.

Shockingly, tablet users were the most dissatisfied with the ease of operation with a lowly 74 customer satisfaction rating, despite having an all-touch display. Moreover, they were also not happy with the features offered.

The companies included in the survey were Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, Acer, Amazon, Asus, Lenovo, and other brands.