technology

Same Phones, Different Carriers, Varied Satisfaction

Consumers who have the same smartphone but are using different wireless carriers have different satisfaction levels, indicating there’s more to being happy than just having the latest device.

According to the latest research from J.D. Power covering satisfaction levels of smartphone owners, Apple’s iPhone devices had higher satisfaction rates among AT&T and Verizon Wireless Customers, while Samsung’s devices ranked higher among Sprint and T-Mobile customers.

“Even though the devices may be similar, there’s a lot of overlaid features and apps [the providers] put on them that are tailored to their individual networks,” Kirk Parsons, senior director of telecommunications services at J.D. Power, tells Marketing Daily. Overall satisfaction
among smartphone devices was highest among AT&T customers (who had an average score of 843, on a 1,000-point scale), followed by Sprint (835), T-Mobile (825) and Verizon (825). Yet when it came to Apple smartphone owners, satisfaction was highest among Verizon customers (861). For Samsung smartphone owners, satisfaction was highest among Sprint customers.

The ratings of smartphone satisfaction by carrier is a new measuring system for J.D. Power, which Parsons says gets at more than just customer satisfaction with the latest and greatest devices.

“When it was just the [manufacturer] ratings, the scores had a lot to do with model lineup, and we knew those who had the newer devices typically had higher scores,” Parsons says. “The fact remains that if you have identical devices, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the same performance satisfaction.&rdquo

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