Apple No 1 for 9th consecutive time for smartphone customer satisfaction

If there's one thing J.D. Power & Associates semi-annual report on customer satisfaction can agree upon, it's that Apple is – and has been for quite some time – the best in smartphone customer satisfaction. Based on a 1,000 point scale with points given for performance, physical design, features, and ease of operation, Apple ranks a full 60 points ahead of the 2nd place combatant – Nokia. While the study average sits at 796 points, Apple is the only one that rises above it with 855 – that's not to say that the competition isn't relatively close behind, but it is true that Apple is also the only manufacturer that rates a 5 on the Power Circle Ratings 1-5 scale for smartphones as well.

After Apple you've got Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola one after the other, followed by HTC, LG, and BlackBerry. The average score, says J.D. Power & Associates, has risen for smartphone satisfaction since the last test done at the end of 2012. Past that, the one factor pushed up most amongst those considered in the polling done by the group was performance, which rose 26 points.

This is, again, the 9th consecutive time that Apple has topped this chart with their iPhone line. This report is released semi-annually, and Apple has always ranked highly particularly in physical design and ease of operation.

As for traditional cellphone design, LG tops the tower with a paltry score of 719. This is well below even the lowest score on the smartphone scale, BlackBerry having had a 732. Below LG you'll find Nokia once again hitting the second spot, the study average being 703 (just below Nokia's 714), and the rest lining up as such: Sanyo, Samsung, Pantech, Motorola, and Kyocera.

Have a peek at other iPhone customer satisfaction posts we've reported on recently and let us know how satisfied you are with your own smartphone or more traditional cellphone right this minute!

[via J.D. Power & Associates]