SA’s happiest mobile phone users
The South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) has released its report on the mobile handsets industry in South Africa, which showed that the iPhone has the most satisfied users.
The SAcsi mobile handset research was conducted between January and June 2014, and involved 1,563 South African consumers.
Each smartphone manufacturer was measured through telephonic and web-survey methods at a statistically reliable sample of at least 270 respondents per brand.
The handset manufacturers measured were Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry, and a category of “other brands” based on market share.
SAcsi mobile handset research results
The SAcsi research revealed that the mobile handset industry in South Africa received an overall satisfaction score from its customers of 73.3 out of 100.
Apple, Samsung, and “other brands” are the industry leaders; Nokia scored on par with the industry; and Blackberry came in significantly lower than the industry average.
Blackberry’s overall satisfaction score has declined since last year – now one of the lowest scores we have seen for customer satisfaction in South Africa.
Prof. Adré Schreuder, founder and chair of SAcsi, said that Apple has a reputation for good quality. However, its product refresh cycles seem really long when new Android phones seem to be released much more often.
Schreuder adds that there is a growing understanding among customers that smartphones are data-hungry, whereas previously they tended to blame the networks for high data charges.
“The main complaints customers specified centred on battery life, freezing operating systems, and high data usage,” he explains.
| South African Customer Satisfaction Index: Mobile Phones Q1 2014 | ||||||
| Measured companies | Sample (n) | SAcsi Score | Point difference from industry average | Percent difference from industry average | Relative position | Change from 2013 |
| Apple | 247 | 79.3 | 6.00 | 8.2% | Leader | -4.1 |
| Other | 233 | 76.5 | 3.20 | 4.4% | Leader | -2.6 |
| Samsung | 430 | 76.0 | 2.70 | 3.7% | Leader | -1.6 |
| Nokia | 301 | 74.2 | 0.90 | 1.2% | On Par | -2.6 |
| BlackBerry | 352 | 65.1 | -8.20 | -11.2% | Below Par | -4.3 |
Net Promoter Score
The Net Promoter Score – which indicates whether customers would recommend a particular handset – is rising for Samsung and declining for Apple.
This change, said Schreuder, could be due to market factors such as the release of new handsets. “As such, this might change when the new Apple iPhone 6 is launched here,” he said.
Blackberry and Nokia’s net promoter scores are falling.
This article was first published on MyBroadband.
More on satisfaction
Customer service is more than please and thank you
Loading ...
