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iPad tops in satisfaction among tablet owners

For the second year in a row, Apple ranks the highest among tablet makers for customer satisfaction, according to a J.D. Power survey.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
Apple's iPad.
Apple's iPad. Apple

Owners of Apple's iPad are the most satisfied among all tablet owners, says J.D. Power.

In a poll of 1,857 tablet users for Volume One of J.D. Power's "2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study," the iPad rated the highest with a score of 836 out of 1,000, outpacing Amazon's Kindle Fire with a ranking of 829.

Conducted in February and released Thursday, the study was aimed at tablet users who have owned their device for a year or less. Customer satisfaction was measured based on the five following factors in order of importance: performance (26 percent); ease of operation (22 percent); styling and design (19 percent); features (17 percent); and cost (16 percent).

The iPad scored high in four of the factors, namely performance, ease of operation, styling and design, and features. The Kindle Fire performed well in terms of cost.

Other tablet makers on the list included Samsung with a score of 822, Asus with 818, and Acer with 784.

The study also found that 94 percent of highly satisfied tablet owners are likely to buy more products from the same company. Further, 41 percent of tablet owners who share the device among four or more persons said they "definitely will" buy their next tablet from the same manufacturer.

Apple scored the top spot in a similar J.D. Power study released in September. In that survey, the iPad grabbed a grade of 848, with the Kindle Fire again in second place with 842.