User Satisfaction with Hardware Drops in Q2 - Company Business and Marketing

ENT, Oct 11, 2000 by Ted Williams

When it comes to equipment satisfaction, nobody beats Dell. That's the conclusion reached by a study of corporate end-user approval of Intel-based server, desktop, and laptop/notebook equipment in the second quarter of 2000.

Dell Computer Corp. (www.dell.com) led the user satisfaction ratings across all three equipment areas in the Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction Study: Intel Servers, Desktops and Notebooks. The quarterly report is released by Technology Business Research Inc. (www.tbri.com).

While user satisfaction levels dropped nearly across the board, TBRIs weighted ratings were generally positive for the market leaders, with scores ranging from 76 to 89 satisfaction points out of 100.

Dell was the only vendor to show an increase from the first to second quarter in user satisfaction in any of the categories -- a 0.9 percent jump in the server area. Dell showed negative approval movement in desktops and notebooks for the three-month period.

Compaq Computer Corp. (www.compaq.com) and IBM Corp. (www.ibm.com) had satisfaction declines for the second quarter in all three categories.

Gateway Inc. (www.gateway.com) had a negative showing among desktops; Toshiba Inc. (www.toshiba.com) slid among notebooks; and Hewlett-Packard Co. (www.hp.com) slipped in both servers and desktops.

Compaq had one of the most dramatic swings: In the desktop arena, the company slid 3.7 percent in the second quarter after a 4.0 percent gain in the previous quarter; and with notebooks the company dove 7.0 percent after a plus 3.8 percent in the first quarter 2000. Inconsistent support and a general dissatisfaction with costs were blamed for the decline.

Other statistics of note: Hewlett-Packard showed a 3.1 percent decline in desktop satisfaction, and IBM continued a declining pattern from the previous quarter in desktops and notebooks.