Apple loses title of best tablet maker to Amazon in latest J.D. Power rankings

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Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Back in May, Apple’s iPad regained its illustrious titles as the top tablet according to the J.D. Power’s U.S. Tablet Satisfaction survey.

Fast forward five months, and Apple’s lost the title… to Amazon, of all companies. Is this even real life?

Here’s how the votes played out. In a survey of consumer satisfaction amongst nearly 2,700 U.S. tablet owners running from March to August, the iPad placed second place with a score of 824 out of a possible 1,000. Samsung came in at 821 for third, with Asus and Acer coming in fourth and fifth, respectively. But Amazon’s Kindle tablets beat everyone, taking home a score of 827 out of 1,000.

According to J.D. Power, Apple received high scores in performance and styling and design, while Amazon performed best in ease of operation and cost. That makes some degree of sense: not only are Amazon’s Kindle tablets several hundreds of dollars cheaper than the iPad, but features like Amazon’s Mayday make it painless for customers to video chat with support reps to get a one-on-one coaching session on how to use their tablet.

Something tells me there’s another factor at play here too, though: during J.D. Power’s latest ranking period, there were a number of new Kindle Fires announced, but no new iPads. Perhaps people gave a slightly better ranking to tablets that had debuted more recently?

If so, don’t be surprised to see the iPad jump back to first place next time J.D. Power releases their U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Survey. We all know the iPad is the best tablet out there; it’s taken the crown before, and it can take it again.

Source: Macworld

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