The results of the ACSI smartphone ratings 2024 are out and Samsung-Apple customer satisfaction numbers stand tied at the top. Both companies have had their own share of controversies this year—Apple with its EU struggles and now the backlash for its most recent ad and Samsung with its “UnCrush” ad, released as an unabashed swing at Apple while the company was already down. Despite the implied hostility between the two companies, they stand united in terms of smartphone satisfaction ratings, which means they’re both doing something right in their own ways.
Image: Apple iPhone Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S23+
Samsung-Apple Customer Satisfaction Numbers Emerge on Top—ACSI Smartphone Ratings 2024
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) smartphone ratings 2024 released its most recent report on how users in the U.S. feel about the smartphone companies on the market today. Over the last two years, Apple has consistently held its position as the company with the greatest number of satisfied consumers and that trend has continued into 2024 as well. However, this time, it doesn’t stand at P1 alone. The Samsung-Apple customer satisfaction numbers have tied at a score of 82, with Apple seeing a 1 percent change and Samsung making a 3 percent improvement to make it to the top. Among 5G customers specifically, Samsung takes first place with a score of 83.
If you’re curious about who else has made it to the top 4, following Apple and Samsung’s ACSI 2024 scores, we have Google at a score of 77, falling by 1 percent compared to 2023, and Motorola at 77, making a 3 percent gain from the previous year. The Google customer satisfaction drop is a little unexpected considering the popularity of the Pixel phones and the many tools and technologies that users get to experience with these devices. Motorola, however, has had a steady stream of smartphone releases that more and more users are growing to enjoy.
ACSI interviewed 12,414 U.S. customers who were chosen at random, between April 2023 and March 2024. The customers had to evaluate their recent experiences with the top companies with the largest shares and the aggregate category of “all others.” The study titled ACSI Wireless Phone Service and Cell Phone Study 2023-2024 is conducted every year with the intention of gathering data that can be used as “inputs to the Index’s cause-and-e‹ect econometric model, which estimates customer satisfaction as the result of the survey-measured inputs of customer expectations, perceptions of quality, and perceptions of value. The ACSI model, in turn, links customer satisfaction with the survey-measured outcomes of customer complaints and customer loyalty.”
Exploring the ACSI Smartphone Ratings 2024
The Apple-Samsung ACSI 2024 performance is to be expected considering the popularity of both smartphones. Apple loyalists who gravitate towards everything the company does are known for being strongly committed to their iPhones and the accompanying ecosystem of devices. Regardless of how the wider audience feels about iOS phones, Apple has a very strong user base that truly enjoys using its products. Samsung lovers are not often as strongly committed to the brand, but the company has the most innovation when catering to a variety of audiences. Whether you look at their flip phones, stylus phones, or those meant for users with a limited budget, Samsung has a wide range of options that give their customers exactly what they want.
Both companies have their particular strengths and they work to these talents, making the high Samsung-Apple customer satisfaction scores inevitable. The Google customer satisfaction drop is still a matter of concern as it had appeared that the company was performing well enough, even going so far as to lead the shift towards on-device AI with Samsung. With great cameras, an intuitive interface, and many avenues for an engaging experience, the fall in customer satisfaction is unfortunate but they may be able to pull ahead with the range of features they are set to offer over the next few months.
For now, the ACSI study states “While Google and Motorola are deadlocked with each other for satisfaction (78), the market judgment is that they do not match the leaders for either satisfaction or design, battery life, screens, and other features 5G customers value.” With the ACSI smartphone ratings 2024, consumers expressed a preference for 5G phones over legacy technology and this factor is likely to remain unchanged in the years to come.
The smartphone satisfaction ratings in 2023-24 have been led by criteria of ease of phone calls, variety of phone features, video quality, website satisfaction, Bluetooth performance (not measured in 2023), ease of text messaging, and screen resolution and quality. Smartphone makers need to maintain their focus on the results of this study and perhaps they too will find better ratings with their customers.