Users love Lenovo notebooks, Gateway desktops.

[ryengineer]

Saw this news, thought could be worth sharing.

14 March, 2007
By Liam Lahey

The latest quarterly report surveying the opinions of the North American corporate desktop and consumer PC market from Technology Business Research Inc. (TBR) shows Lenovo was the number one notebook vendor in the fourth quarter of 2006.
While not based on hard data, TBR's "Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction Study" is regarded as a "perception study", gathering the perceptions of end users that are only partly based on the tangible, and partly based on emotion.

Lenovo earned the top ranking in the notebooks category in the brand awareness and customer satisfaction survey. In corporate PC desktops, Gateway was number one in that segment in both 3Q06 and 4Q06.

Previously, Gateway had tended to run around third or fourth. This was because Gateway previously suffered from poor perceptions for hardware reliability and quality.

Taking a view of all the vendors in the report, Julie Perron, manager of primary research for Hampton, N.H.-based TBR, said in both the desktop and notebook space, Dell's performances have remained consistent throughout 2006 while its' competitors' have been strengthening.

"The outcome in both studies has not been particularly surprising because we have been observing steady improvement on the parts of Gateway (desktops and notebooks), HP (desktops and notebooks), and Lenovo (desktops) for the past year to 18 months," she said. "Consequently, the change-over (where Dell is no longer coming in as the leader) has not been sudden.

"It is also important to point out that the perceptions we measure are only partly based on functional issues (customer experiences with product quality, value, and services), while relationship or trust issues make up the 'dark matter' of the universe we're measuring, or so to speak."

Whether the vendor receives positive or negative press coverage can have an effect on how customers view the vendor and, consequently, the way respondents express their views, she added.

Meanwhile, of the other vendors tracked by the survey, Gateway's performances generally improved during 2006. Customer service issues such as ease of doing business and replacement parts availability tend to ride the higher wave of Gateway's satisfaction ratings range. It is the perception of customer service that has propelled Gateway from a number three ranking to number one during 2006.

Gateway's loyalty ratings remain at parity with the competition following a long climb from obscurity, Perron noted. Altogether, Gateway's customer loyalty ratings have increased by 9 percent during 2006.

Dell's ranking position has traveled progressively from the top spot in 2Q06 to second place in 3Q06 and finally to number three in 3Q06 for two reasons: Dell's stable course has left the vendor behind in an environment where competitors' improvements are accelerating; and the specific absence of a desktop value competitive advantage and the emergence of a new challenge relative to phone support have led to Dell's current ranking.

Dell's ranking position dropped predominantly due to its declining phone support ratings, as well as the loss of its desktop value competitive strength due to continually encroaching positions of its competitors, the report read. Dell's steady decline in ranking position has almost entirely been the result of strengthening performances of its competitors in the past year.

"There were three, number one ranked players in the notebook study: Lenovo (due to longstanding competitive advantages in hardware reliability and product design quality), HP (due to a more recent competitive advantage for hardware reliability and no visible areas of vulnerability), and Gateway (due to customer service issues such as phone support, ease of doing business, and parts availability)," she said. "Three winners, for three quite different reasons.

"While Dell's positions have remained the same throughout the year, the improving positions of competitors had the effect of pushing Dell to a subordinate ranking position, largely due to the fact its hardware reliability and design ratings fell behind the competition."

Toshiba has been doing significantly better in the past year than they did prior to that, Perron noted, primarily because they correct a long-standing set of issues with notebook support. Toshiba's notebooks, however, are viewed as being priced rather high, so the company cannot achieve a higher ranking, she added.

HP's positions have improved by significant margins during 2006 across all categories except phone support. Two of the most noteworthy areas are hardware reliability (where HP narrowly missed a competitive strength determination in 4Q06) and desktop value (where HP's current positions point to the possibility of a distinctive performance in the near future). HP's momentum in these two areas in particular will need to be carried over if this vendor is to move up to a No. 1 ranking position.

HP has no real vulnerabilities to address in TBR's view; yet, it must assert a clear differentiation message, likely associated with its hardware reliability standing.

"HP is ranked second, while Gateway is the number one vendor in the 4Q06 study," she said. "HP has clearly been improving, but was not determined to have come up with any specific competitive strengths, as did Gateway, again largely due to perceived customer service excellence."

Lenovo's satisfaction positions have also been progressing at a steady rate during 2006. Note that the trajectory of its hardware reliability satisfaction trend line is advancing at a rate similar to HP. Note as well that Lenovo customers tend to isolate their satisfaction with reliability at a very high range, its positions separated from other aspects of the customer experience by a considerable margin.

Like HP, TBR said Lenovo is striving for an upcoming distinction within the category of hardware reliability, as well as for desktop value. Lenovo must navigate a more difficult path than HP to move from a number three ranking to a number one. It must continue to improve past and recurrent vulnerabilities primarily related to the supply chain, the study read.

Lenovo's satisfaction position improvements are accelerating into the upcoming 1Q07 reporting period, most notably relative to ease of doing business, hardware reliability, phone support, desktop value and customer loyalty . . . must also continue to address supply chain concerns that affect customer satisfaction with delivery time and, to some extent, replacement parts availability.

TBR's quarterly report is based on data collected from the previous six months. The audience is comprised of large U.S. and Canadian enterprises that plan to purchase at least 100 notebook systems in the next year. Lenovo, Dell, HP, Toshiba and Gateway are included in the study.

[anthean]

Actually, three years ago I bought the T41 as it was recommended for its reliability. At the same time, I bought the Gateway 310 desktop out of loyalty.

Both have been perfect machines.

[ronbo613]

Make a better product and provide better customer service than the other guy. Pretty basic business.
Truthfully, I thought Gateway was kind of dead in the water. They used to have a few stores that closed down here, I thought they might be on their way out. I think Dell has gone downhill. Their corporate and business customers get treated well, individuals and small businesses are treated like dirt. Their desktop PCs are average, at best.
IBM always had the corporate laptop market in the bag. I always thought Dell made pretty good laptops, maybe the customer service part of it is hurting them there as well.

[pianowizard]

I have used about six Gateway desktops, all of them Celeron/PII/PIII from the late 1990s and had lots of problems. I am surprised that they are doing so well now.

[Turbo Audi]

I have used gateway (2000) since I was about 11. I got rid of the one I had been using since 2001, just a few weeks ago. Never had a bad HD, dead PSU or anything.