Apple, Lenovo top performers in second annual ‘Computer Reliability Report’
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Oct 23, 2007 at 11:18am
RESCUECOM, an information technology services franchise, has announced the results of its second annual “RESCUECOM Computer Reliability Report,” analysis that compares computer vendors’ market share with consumer service call data from RESCUECOM’s 1-800-RESCUE-PC call center. Not surprisingly, Apple was one of the best rated companies.
Results of the report—based on 46,000 service calls to RESCUECOM—provide computer users with insight about the likelihood that they will require support beyond what is provided by the computer maker’s warranty, says David A. Milman, founder and CEO of RESCUECOM.
“Computers are an important investment, one that plays an increasingly central role in our daily lives and as such, consumers demand to know which manufacturer’s products they can count on for the most trouble-free operation,” he says. “We created the RESCUECOM Reliability survey to inform computer users about what they can expect before they purchase that new computer.”
The report calculated the “Reliability Score” for each personal computer vendor based on the calculated difference between overall U.S. market share, over a three-year period, and the percentage of calls requesting service received by RESCUECOM’s call center. Higher scores indicate that less calls for service were received for the specific computer vendor versus expected levels based upon market share estimates.
Here’s how the companies fared: Apple (357); Lenovo/IBM (236); HP (126); Gateway (103); Dell (94) and others (79). Reliability scores are based on a comparison of RESCUECOM’s call center data with the average U.S. 2Q markets share data from IDC’s “Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, 2005-2007.” Other findings from the data include:
° Apple surged to the number one spot in the reliability survey, beating its closest competitor by more than 100 points.
° Lenovo/IBM, last year’s top performer, dropped to second place, but is still considered among the most reliable vendors topping the next closest rival by 110 points.
° Driven by strong market share gains, HP significantly improved its overall rating compared to last year, but remained in third place.
° Dell slipped in the ratings to fifth place, replaced in the number four spot by Gateway.
“The data in this year’s survey reconfirms observations from last year’s results, namely that Apple and Lenovo’s products and service continue to set the pace in the industry,” Milman says. “HP’s resurgence and Lenovo’s strong performance during a period marked by its acquisition of IBM’s Thinkpad lines are also bright spots in this report. What this means is consumers are benefiting from competition and armed with this reliability information, computer shoppers can make more informed choices when deciding which computer they should buy this holiday season.”
Submissions are being taken for the “Macsimum Macworld San Francisco 2008 Coupon Book.” For details email Dennis at daseller@earthlink.net
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
