Why is Apple’s customer satisfaction slipping?

The University of Michigan has announced its annual ranking of customer service by PC manufacturers. Apple is still tops in the industry, as it has been forever. But it tied Dell for the biggest drop since last year, with a five percent decline. Here's what survey author Claes Fornell had to say:

With more than $21 billion in revenue, Apple has grown by nearly 400% in sales during the past 5 years. Recent demand for Mac computers is up by about 25%, which is more than twice the rate of growth for the overall PC market. Many analysts seem to believe that Apple is gaining market share in part because of iPod users switching to Mac computers. It is very difficult to ensure that both customer service and satisfaction stay high when a company suddenly needs to service many more customers. This is probably what is behind the decline in customer satisfaction for Apple. According to the Economist (6/9/07), there are also “grumblings about manufacturing defects and customer service.”

And he didn't even mention the iPhone, which will present a slew of unfamiliar new kinds of customer complaints for Apple to learn to deal with. So what do you think? Are you as satisfied with Apple as you were a year ago? Is its customer service and product quality holding up?

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2007/08/is_apples_custo.html