Best and worst mobile phones in South Africa
The latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi ) shows that consumers appear to be satisfied with their mobile handsets, with makers Apple, Nokia and Samsung leading the way.
Over 2,105 consumers were included in an independent survey which gave the brands an overall score of 77.2 out of 100.
The data was collected between March and May 2015.
Apple, Nokia and Samsung set the benchmark with scores of 82.7, 78.9 and 78.8 respectively, while Blackberry scored below par at 70.6, despite improving its scores since last year.
| # | Brand | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | 82.7 |
| 2 | Nokia | 78.9 |
| 3 | Samsung | 78.8 |
| Industry Average | 77.2 | |
| 4 | BlackBerry | 70.6 |
Prof. Adré Schreuder, founder of SAcsi and CEO of Consulta, said Blackberry’s score improvement was likely due to the fact that only its most loyal customers remain.
Customers expect more of mobile handsets than they are getting, with the exception of Nokia and Samsung, which are exceeding their customers’ expectations in terms of meeting their needs, he said.
“Apple customers have high expectations but report that the brand falls just short of their expectations in terms of reliability.”
“In fact, customer expectations of Apple iPhones are the highest we’ve encountered across various brands and industries at 88 out of 100. Customers are happy with many aspects of iPhone’s product quality and there is no doubt that Apple’s brand appeal is significant,” Schreuder said.
Blackberry received the most complaints, made all the more interesting by the fact that the brand also scored second highest in terms of complaints handling.
All the brands reported higher levels of complaints, with the exception of Samsung, which had 10% fewer complaints than in 2015, but did not score well in its handling of complaints, dropping by a dramatic 17.5 on its previous score.
“This could be related to the fact that in the South African context, consumers don’t interact directly with the manufacturers,” said Schreuder.
Blackberry was recently named in a Phonefinder survey as the most popular manufacturer in terms of sales, outselling the Galaxy S5 and Apple’s latest iPhone.
Despite intense marketing from rivals, Blackberry continues to hold its own, which may have something to do with its value proposition, Consulta said.
Nokia customers reported the highest value for money scores; quality for the price paid is also highly rated. Nokia scored 2.3 points more than the next challenger.
When it comes to the proportion of customers who will recommend mobile handsets to others, Apple continues to lead with its distinct upward trend from 77.5 in 2013 to 77.8 in 2014 and 80.6 in 2015. Samsung comes second, with recommendations rising from 73.6 (2013) to 75.1 (2014) and 76.2 (2015).
Blackberry customers are least likely to recommend the brand.
The number of complaints from customers has decreased slightly since 2013. Apple is the only mobile handset that shows a remarkable upward trend in the proportion of complaints since 2013, but the upside is that these complaints were seen to be handled well.
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