Technology Tell talks about Apple's position in 2015 Reliability Report

Apple Falls to Third in Rescuecom's 2015 Computer Reliability Report

Rescuecom—a Syracuse, New York-based computer repair and support specialist firm—has released their 2015 Computer Reliability Report, which reveals some interesting shifts among the big name computer and tablet manufacturers. With nationwide service for every make and model of computer, Rescuecom is able to accurately judge a wide range of manufacturers, rather than only one or two brands. Rescuecom’s Level 3 Certified Technicians field a great number of calls for tech support as well as for computer repair from all eight of the ranking manufacturers.

Rescuecom Computer Reliability Report ranking are based on two factors:

1. A manufacturer puts together quality machines that don’t require computer repair.

2. A manufacturer provides such exemplary tech support for their customers that they have no need to seek outside assistance.

The 2015 report finds Amazon—which has the second lowest market share among the major contenders, and the only one focused exclusively on tablets—claiming a massive lead over its competition. Indeed, Rescuecom finds Amazon products racking up a higher reliability score than the rest of the manufacturers combined, holding top rank by an enormous margin, surpassing even traditional reliability leaders Apple and Samsung this year. Rescuecom observes that this would be an impressive achievement even were there were only a small gap separating them, and suggests Amazon’s A+ grade is attributable to the company’s exclusive concentration on Kindle tablets. “Amazon is a good example of a company that has really benefited from focusing on one product, the Kindle Tablets,” said Rescuecom CEO David Milman.

However Samsung and Apple still get impressive A- reliability grades for 2015, ending up almost tied for second place in Rescuecom’s 2015 reliability score. Samsung managed to squeak out a narrow three-point lead over Apple, which first fell behind Samsung to second-place in the 2013 Rescuecom survey, and has to settle for a close third place reliability ranking this year. “Apple maintains a low number of computer repair calls despite claiming almost a quarter of the entire computer and tablet market,” Mr. Milman notes, “whereas Samsung has a significant but smaller nine percent.”

The full list of rankings, which are explained in-depth in the 2015 Computer Reliability Report is as follows:

1 – Computer repair share percentages and computer reliability scores include tablets.

2 – The computer reliability report does not include “other” manufacturers, defined as all manufacturers that have below 1.0% market share.

3 – Market share numbers are provided by IDC.

Lenovo and Asus occupy middle ground with reliability grades of B and B-, respectively, and Rescuecom notes that while those are respectable grades, the two companies still have a long way to go to match their top competitors’ reliability performance. And while Toshiba often finishes in the middle rankings as well, RESCUECOM has observed an increased incidence of Toshiba users seeking computer repairs in 2015.

Consequently, Toshiba joins Dell and HP at the bottom of the pack for reliability, with Dell managing to pull ahead of both Toshiba and HP this year. Rescuecom says this is significant for Dell, which had long duked it out with HP as to which would finish at the bottom of the reliability grades, but notes the company still has a long way to go if they hope to challenge Amazon, Samsung, and Apple.

Meanwhile, Apple has its work cut out to regain its once perennial top-of-the heap reliability scores in Rescuecom’s and other surveys.