The ongoing rivalry between Apple and Samsung has been stoked plenty in the

last few days. Apple fanboys scored a huge log to toss on the fire with statistics
showing the Cupertino company ​blew away the competition​ this holiday
season. Now Samsung loyalists have their own numbers to fight back with:
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Samsung has
passed Apple in customer satisfaction.

In the “Cellular Telephones” category, Apple fell from the top spot of the ACSI
survey, dropping 2.5 percent to 79 percent satisfaction overall. Samsung
leapfrogged Apple into the top spot, gaining 6.6 percent to reach 81 percent
approval. Of course, neither number is bad and both keep Apple and Samsung
the top dogs in the industry as far as happy phone owners go.

The drop off for Apple would make sense given the rough launch of the iPhone
6 and 6 Plus, accompanied by ​controversies​ that may well have
been ​overblown​. And that was just part of Apple’s rough year, which also
included the ​iCloud hack​ that led to ​Celebgate​ and the device-breaking ​iOS
8.0.1 update​.
But don’t go running to the forums thinking you have new ammunition in
hand, Samsung lovers. The data doesn’t account for Apple’s latest release—the
numbers from ACSI’s survey are from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first
quarter of 2014. A ​press release​ from ACSI dated all the way back to May 10,
2014 contained the original data point of Samsung bypassing Apple.
"Other outlets saw that article and are taking it as a new report. We're trying to correct
where possible."
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“While Apple still sells nearly twice the number of smartphones in the United
States as its nearest competitor, Samsung now comes out on top in one critical
metric—customer satisfaction. Samsung surges 7 percent to an ACSI score of
81, beating Apple in overall customer satisfaction for the first time,” reads the
release.

This means the iPhone 6 wasn’t on the ​list of phones surveyed​. For all of
Apple’s troubles in 2014, that handset was about as big of a boost as a
company could ask for, ​setting a record​for first weekend sales by topping the
10 million mark. Samsung’s Galaxy S5 wasn’t on the list of devices either but
the phone tanked hard in sales, falling ​40 percent below​ its forecasted
numbers.
Apple still led Samsung in overall customer satisfaction as a company and won
in the tablet market. J.D. Power also ​awarded Apple​ the top spot in customer
satisfaction in a survey conducted between September 2013 and February
2014, a roughly similar time period as the ASCI’s.

Why has this report from the ASCI with outdated information resurfaced?
“We provided MarketWatch with a list of how companies performed in 2014,”
explained Amanda Roberts of Kearns & West, the communication firm that
represents ASCI. The list contained the customer satisfaction scores of every
company surveyed by the organization in 2014. ASCI releases its data for
different sectors at different times of the year, the list given to MarketWatch
was simply a compilation of it all.

The smartphone duopoly of Apple and Samsung will only grow stronger in the near term, as more than 80
and 60 percent of their customers, respectively, say they will stay with them. By contrast, less than half of
all users of any other smartphone manufacturer say they intend to retain their current brand the next time
they buy a new device, according to a survey by Market Strategies International. And which brands do
those defectors predict they will buy? Apple or Samsung.

“Manufacturers in the middle, like HTC, LG, Motorola and Nokia, are really being stretched by the
competition. Our research shows smartphone consumers want a brand they can trust, an operating
system with all the features and a high-quality product they can rely on for business and pleasure. Apple
and Samsung score highly in all those areas. The other brands have their work cut out for them,” said
Paul Donagher, senior vice president, Telecommunications Division, Market Strategies International.

One brand that may have revived its last chance with consumers to hold off Apple and Samsung is
Blackberry. The company has a core group of loyalists who, as long-time users and proponents of the
business functionality, intend to stay with their Blackberry no matter what.

“To maintain the viability of its business, Blackberry must hold on to this core. To grow the business, it
must gain back the customers they had three to four years ago and understand the non-business
functionality that Apple and Samsung provide. This suggests a dual strategy that develops devices their
core group will appreciate and new devices like the Blackberry Z10 that cater to business ​and​ personal
needs,” added Donagher.