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Apple continues to dominate consumer sentiment for tablet PCs with a 38% share of positive customer comments online


Customer comments for tablet PCs are overwhelming positive. Positive comments online account for 75% of all comments measured. Apple has the lion’s share of those positive comments with 38%. Archos and Asus tablets achieve the highest Net Sentiment Scores.

London 02 Nov – Online market research specialist DigitalMR releases latest findings on what customers are saying about tablet PCs on the internet.

The overwhelming majority of customers are highly positive in their views on tablet PCs as expressed on the internet. DigitalMR measured thousands of comments for slate devices across July-August 2011. Three quarters of all views measured were positive with only 25% negative. Apple recorded a 38% share of all positive comments and 33% of the smaller pool of negative ones. Next placed is HTC with 17% of positive mentions and 22% of negative.

Results are based on comments posted by consumers on the major tablet brands made by: Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Blackberry, HTC, LG, HP, ASUS, Archos and Fusion Garage, across July-August 2011.

DigitalMR’s analysis (powered by SocialNuggets) is based on comments posted via a range of relevant websites and open access social media platforms. It measures, not only the number of comments posted by consumers on the internet, but also their sentiment – whether posts are positive or negative in nature.

Managing Director of DigitalMR, Michalis Michael commented: “Apple is still the main player in the tablet PC online space. It will be interesting to see if some of the new entrants can emulate the smatphone market and implement successful strategies to increase their online share of voice.”

All the brands measured, achieve a positive Net Sentiment Score (NSS) for Jul-Aug. NSS provides an overall percentage score of net positive posts. A positive score means a tablet attracts a higher proportion of positive than negative posts.

The average NSS taken across all brands measured is 50% which is very high compared with other industry sectors.  This is good news for the tablet industry as it shows that generally customers and very satisfied with their products and are happy to spread the word online. Apple has an NSS of 55%, slightly above average, but given its dominant position in the market customer expectations are likely to be higher. Newer entrants to the market that achieve the highest NSS are Archos 75% and Asus with 71%.

Brands that are performing significantly below the average NSS of 50% are HTC with 39% and Motorola with 37%.

DigitalMR measures thousands of customer posts across Jul-Aug regarding the features that tablets offer. The most talked about features (both positively and negatively) are “operating system” (18% share of positive comments vs 21% negative) and “application” (18% positive vs 20% negative).


Summary of positive and negative posts and overall NSS

 

In their words – Customer comments for models with the highest and lowest Net Sentiment Scores

Archos

“I bought this thinking to replace my book readers and for an easy way to not lug a lap top around, while I travel. It works great for both purposes, unbelievably light, very responsive and less expensive than the Ipad, etc. The 7 inch size is perfect for me. I had some trouble getting used to the operating system and file transfers etc but Archosfan.com had answers for everything I questioned. This unit also replaces an Archos 705 that I've had for the last couple of years and while I was impressed with it, this just blows me away.”

“I decided to buy the Archos 43 a little over a month ago and I am VERY happy with it! ............I have been using the Archos almost daily since purchased - at an average of 3 hours per day.  I purchased this for use as an MP3 player, video player, viewing YouTube, checking e-mails, calendar schedule, checklists, task reminder, etc.  The size is perfect!  Easily carry in my purse. I easily loaded my complete music collection from my laptop (Windows XP).  Recognized   Archos with no problems.  If you are missing any album covers, there is a free app that will take care of that. Video quality is great - runs smooth with no glitches.  Wi-Fi connection is almost flawless.  I can be on the internet checking/writing e-mails, searching for apps, etc. - with ease.  My wireless router is at one end of the house and I am at the other.  Archos has no problems maintaining a continual signal....Battery life is great!! ...All in all - I am very happy with my purchase!”.

Asus

“You don't need to prove anything to me.  The Asus Transformer and the future Transformer 2 are the best Android (and IOS) tablets out there.  I am patiently awaiting the number 2 but winning the first generation will quench my thirst to possibly hold out for 3!”

“Asus Eepad Transformer has a great screen, weight and battery life. The keyboard/docking station is also hard to beat. An excellent product and delightful combination. Surely a market winner!”.

Motorola

“Stability issue with stock browser on Motorola Xoom......I have had that problem a couple of times on a WiFi Xoom.  It was frustrating as I use tabs extensively and whenever I would get about 4 tabs ahead and was ready to start reading them the browser would shut down. I don't think it was related to the use of tabs but rather was related to the time the browser was open. It stopped each time after I cleared the cache and rebooted”.

“I am pretty sick of Motorola Tablet with the various glitches and failure to upgrade my Xoom to even have SD-Card working, never mind 4G..”.

HTC

“The _HTC Flyer_ is a 7inch tablet in the world where the 10 inch is a norm. The tablet is thick, small and expensive...”

“Sorry .The HTC Flyer is a mess.  The price cuts were inevitable”.

 

How can tablet brands use social media to their advantage?

Tablets can use analysis of data from websites and other social media in the following ways:

  • Engage in a one-to-one dialogue with their customers and respond to negative comments.
  • Invite some of the customers to join online forums and chat groups to further express their views
  • Positive sentiment can be leveraged in advertising
  • Operations can learn about and fix specific retail and product performance issues
  • Products can be adjusted, and new ones designed to meet customer need

About the syndicated tablet report

DigitalMR produces a monthly tablet report which monitors thousands of customers’ online conversations through comments posted on open-access social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, forums, blogs, microblogs and commercial websites, for comments regarding tablet services.
The report is available on annual subscription with updates provided on a quarterly, monthly or weekly basis. Results will be updated to the press on a monthly basis.
 

Contact

For regular reports and more information:
Michalis A. Michael
mmichael@digital-mr.com,
tel: +44 751 571 0370
www.digital-mr.com

 

About DigitalMR
DigitalMR understands what people think and feel when they share views online. It is a specialist agency which provides a holistic approach to web based market research. It specialises in utilising social media research, especially active web-listening, and online communities to enhance its business consulting approach. The agency has pioneered new methods in online focus groups alongside tools such as video diaries, bulletin boards and online ethnography. DigitalMR is headed by founder and MD, Michalis Michael and has offices in London UK, Nicosia Cyprus, and Columbus Ohio, in the US.

About SocialNuggets
SocialNuggets technology delivers real-time market intelligence for fast moving industries by analyzing data from various social media sources with a mission to liberate social media data and sentiment analysis for use in real-time research of brands, products and features. SocialNuggets delivers ready to use market intelligence for various industry verticals including consumer electronics and banking. SocialNuggets data is delivered in bite size, ready-to-consume, infographics and is also available in the form of a full access to our data warehouse for analysis and integration with customers’ data. SocialNuggets, a Serendio company, was founded in 2011 with headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.
 

 




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