High levels of customer satisfaction with Apple's new Leopard operating system are spurring "explosive sales" of the company's Mac computer line, a new consumer spending survey has revealed.
Meanwhile, Apple desktop purchases came in at 16 percent over the same time period, up 6 percentage points, likely driven by robust demand for the Cupertino-based firm's new line of glass and aluminum-clad iMac all-in-one systems.
"The results represent an astonishing leap for Apple among consumer PC purchasers over the holidays," ChangeWave wrote in its report. "Looking at the next 90 days, a third of planned PC buyers (33 percent; up 4-pts) say theyâll purchase an Apple notebook — a new all-time high for the electronics giant."
At the same time, 29 percent of buyers say theyâll buy an Apple desktop, matching the same all-time high percentage reported by the firm in its November study.
According to the latest report, Apple also maintained its commanding lead in customer satisfaction when compared to other major PC manufacturers, with nearly four-in-five Apple buyers (79 percent) over the past 90 days saying they are Very Satisfied with their purchase. By comparison, the Mac maker's two biggest competitors — Dell and Hewlett-Packard — had 59 percent and 58 percent satisfaction ratings, respectively.
"It comes as no surprise that Apple sets the standard in terms of customer satisfaction," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research, "but thereâs a new twist on why theyâre outperforming the rest of the industry — itâs the amazing customer satisfaction rating on Appleâs new Leopard OS."
Smith said that more than four-in-five Apple buyers (81 percent) said they were Very Satisfied with Leopard, which is "an exceptionally high rating" for a new operating system. This compares to 53 percent and 51 percent for Windows XP, and just 27 percent and 15 percent, respectively, for the Microsoft Vista systems.
The high customer satisfaction in Leopard not only dwarfs its competitors, but is also having a direct impact on consumer intentions to purchase an Apple Mac, Smith added.
The study revealed that more than one-in-four consumers (26 percent) say the Leopard OS is making them more likely to buy a Mac in the future.
62 Comments
I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.
First time buyer and I am loving this machine. Kids spend more time on photo booth than anything else but, nice to be able to have fun with it. I am really enjoying iPhoto08 and iMovie06. Like seeing all my photos and movies for the first time...
Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...
I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.
I'm looking forward to this update as well, but your post is a good reminder of the fact that the kvetching that goes in in these forums is in no way representative of the experience most users out there have with their computers.
First time buyer and I am loving this machine. Kids spend more time on photo booth than anything else but, nice to be able to have fun with it. I am really enjoying iPhoto08 and iMovie06. Like seeing all my photos and movies for the first time...
Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...
Just install Firefox as an alternate browser to deal with the MS standard centric sites.
Leopard is a good update, but it's not nearly as stabled as 10.4.9 or whatever I had before upgrading.
Also, there are lots and lots of compatibility problems using programs that haven't been updated for leopard...