Performance and quality of mobile carriers’ services, as well as how specific features and services are presented to subscribers, play an important role in determining customers’ overall satisfaction with smartphones, J.D. Power and Associates finds in the second installment of its semi-annual wireless smartphone satisfaction study.
Overall smartphone customer satisfaction came in at 833 on a 1,000-point scale, according to the “J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study – Vol.2.” Apple and Samsung were the only two smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with average or better than average overall satisfaction scores across all four J.D. Power study performance factors.
“It’s very interesting to see that satisfaction performance differs by smartphone brand across Tier 1 carriers,” commented Kirk Parsons, senior director of telecommunications services at J.D. Power. “This indicates that carrier services and how these carriers position specific features and services on their devices influence the experience customers have with their smartphone device.”
Other key findings in the report include:
- Overall satisfaction with smartphone devices is highest among AT&T customers (843), followed by Sprint (835); T-Mobile (825); and Verizon Wireless (825) customers
- Among Apple smartphone owners, satisfaction with their overall experience is highest among Verizon Wireless customers (861). Among Samsung smartphone owners, satisfaction is highest among Sprint customers (853)
- Smartphone models that perform particularly well across all four U.S. wireless Tier 1 carriers[1] include (by OEM in alphabetical order): Apple iPhone 5; Blackberry Z10; Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung Galaxy Note II
- The primary reasons for purchasing a smartphone device differ by carrier. Sprint customers are more likely to purchase their smartphone device because of phone features, while T-Mobile customers are more likely to select their smartphone due to price
