Reaching the Global Marketplace

HP has again emerged as the preferred desktop vendor in the Consumer Satisfaction Audit 2013. The company has continuously improved its services and has worked to offer consumers better post-sales experience than any of its competitors. It has consecutively beaten Dell to clinch this place. In the last few years, HP has opened up a number of service centers beyond the metro cities and has enhanced its network in the tier-2 and -3 towns. This has happened despite the global desktop sales being in the woods.

While it might not be surprising to see HP again at the #1 place, it is noteworthy that HP has left Dell behind in the race which was once a preferred vendor in the notebook space. Many regard Dell's loss as HP's gain. But the fact of the matter is that HP has endeavored to win back customers' trust, leave a lasting impact on their psyche, and managed to be their long term partner through better service support.

In the DQ-CMR Consumer Satisfaction Survey, the assessment was done on different parameters on which the brand image on overall customer satisfaction was assessed of vendors such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, HCL, Wipro, and Zenith. On overall product reliability, functionality, and operation, HP stood taller than any other brand in the race. However, other brands were close in the race with a little margin. On pre-sales and market front, there was a tough competition. At one time, Dell was leading the service delivery race forcing competitors to think and rethink. But Dell seems to have lost in the recesses. HP seems to have improved a lot. They must have understood the importance of being good even after the product is sold, since an unsatisfied customer leads to considerable loss of business. HP scored 86.6%, closely followed by Lenovo with 85.2% on this parameter.

Even on the price and commercial parameters, HP has struck a fine balance with products which are price-sensitive as well as viable for its business model. The vendor has built of a diverse portfolio of products to cater to consumers in different ranges. HP scores 87% on this parameter. In desktops, while HP boasts of classy, sleep All-in-One computers, it continues to have the classical machine. Similarly on parameters such as deliver and installation, and post sales service, it remains upfront.

There are 2 sides of the desktop segment. When we see the satisfaction levels coming down for other vendors, we can simply assume that other vendors have lost interest in the desktop and so have scored less. All said, the market is still consuming desktops.