Microsoft satisfaction rating nears historical low
The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has revealed its 2013 benchmarks, giving us an overview of the quality and service satisfaction levels for a range of products in one of the largest software markets in the world – the United States.
The report covers a lot of product categories, more than 230 companies, 43 industries and 10 economic sectors, as well as over 100 services, programs, and websites of federal government agencies; and over 70,000 customers were surveyed to draw up the results index.
An interesting take-away from the latest report is the performance of Microsoft on the back of it’s Windows 8 operating system, which must be seen in historical context – Microsoft now leaves consumers satisfied (or dissatisfied, depending how you look at it) with the company’s products since Windows Vista blighted the OS landscape.
Released in January 2007, Vista earned Microsoft a satisfaction rating of 70, hitting a low of 69 in 2008. Prior to Vista, its 2006 rating was 73.
The release of Windows 7 in October 2009 seemed to perk up their rating to 76 in 2010, and they hit a high of 78 in 2011.
However, the 2013 ACSI rating sees Microsoft slipping back down the satisfaction index with a rating of 74 – a Microsoft satisfaction rating that is slipping back toward Vista territory.
ACSI May 2013 report – Software
“Microsoft hoped to reinvigorate its share of the PC software market with the launch of Windows 8 last October. Despite shipments of roughly 60 million units in the first three months, sales have been muted in comparison to the release of Windows 7,” states the May 2013 ACSI report.
“The reception of Windows 8, which has been criticized by customers for its redesign of the user interface, does not appear to have seriously dampened customer satisfaction with Microsoft. But then again, the software maker’s latest release has not helped satisfaction either. Likewise, investors have not been impressed for the year ending December 2012, Microsoft stock was flat compared with roughly 15% growth for the market,” said the ACSI.
It should be noted that on average, the ACSI rating for software has been on a downward trend since the highs of 2011, with the whole category seeing -1.3% change from 2012.
“The market remains challenging for desktop and laptop software as mobile platforms and their associated apps gain popularity with consumers. Global PC shipments plunged 14% in the first quarter of
2013, representing the fourth straight quarter of year-on-year contraction and the worst single quarterly decline in 20 years,” states the May 2013 ACSI report.
Source: ACSI
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