Apple Tops Customer Experience Chart with "Okay" Rating

Temkin Group today released its 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings, a research report that rates the customer experience of 206 large companies across 18 industries. Apple was the top dog, despite getting only an “okay” rating from Temkin.

The Temkin group based their survey on 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012. Participants were asked the exact same questions about 10 personal computer makers.

Examples include “Does the company meet your needs?” or, “how do you feel about your interactions with these companies?”

Temkin said “Apple was the top-rated computer firm, earning an ‘okay’ rating and the 89th overall spot across industries.”

The "okay" rating was shared with Lenovo, Toshiba, and HP, whereas “the remaining companies received ‘poor’ ratings, with Gateway and Dell at the bottom,” said the group.

“The computer industry received the fourth lowest-average customer experience rating,” added Temkin. Well, no wonder Apple only got “okay”.

The group is careful to point out that the ever-changing computer industry has changed the rankings.

“In 2011, Apple had a two-point lead over Acer and a three-point advantage over HP and Sony. This year, Apple has a three-point advantage over both Lenovo and Toshiba, while both HP and Sony have slipped farther back,” the paper explains.

"Apple remains the customer experience leader in the computer industry, but Lenovo and Toshiba have made significant gains this past year," states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.

Other highlights from the study include:

- Apple and Lenovo received the highest Functional ratings, while Compaq and Dell received the lowest.
- Apple and Toshiba received the highest Accessible ratings, while Gateway and Dell received the lowest.
- Apple and Toshiba received the highest Emotional ratings, while Gateway and Dell received the lowest.

Those interested in accessing the report can visit the Temkin Group website here, or the firm’s blog, here. Those interested in using the raw data are encouraged to visit the Temkin Ratings website.