Apple tops consumer computer satisfaction poll

The latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) places the company's desktops, notebooks and tablets ahead of all other manufacturers for the 11th year running.

The latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) places the company's desktops, notebooks and tablets ahead of all other manufacturers for the 11th year running.

Apple earned an aggregate score of 84 out of a possible 100 which, although not as good as in 2013 when it scored 87, was still enough to keep it ahead of Samsung, Lenovo and Asus, each of whom scored 82.

As for major computer manufacturers, the best performing companies were Dell and Acer, both of whom scored 76, followed closely by Toshiba with 75.

The results, which make up part of the ACSI Household Appliance and Electronics Report, also show that consumers are slowly falling out of love with tablets and are less satisfied with new notebooks.

However, the American public is happier with the desktop PC. When aggregate scores were taken across device categories, satisfaction with notebooks had dropped the most (down 4% to 76 points), tablets had dropped by 1 percent to 80 points but desktops saw a 3 % gain to hit an average satisfaction score of 81.

'The increase in customer satisfaction for PCs could mean two different things,' says Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman and founder. 'Either the product is seen as more attractive now and is poised for a comeback, or it has higher customer satisfaction simply because those who were less than happy with it have moved to other devices. If dissatisfied customers leave and satisfied customers stay, average satisfaction may well go up.'