Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) Tops in Tablet Satisfaction

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has put out a larger Kindle Fire to directly compete with the iPad by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), while Apple is due to put out an iPad Mini to directly compete with the Kindle Fire. But while the two companies haven’t yet competed directly in the tablet marketplace, they have been competing for customers and their satisfaction. And in a recent survey of tablet customers, these two companies are above the industry average in customer satisfaction.

J.D. Power and Associates, the famous customer-satisfaction research firm, conducted its first-ever survey of tablet computer users and determined that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) were listed 1-2 in customer satisfaction survey, both listing above the industry average. The survey asked nearly 2,000 tablet users and asked them questions in five key categories – performance, price, design, features and ease of use. The results were revealved on a 1,000-point scale, with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) posting an 848 and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at 841, the only two tablet companies above the industry average of 832.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., was third on the survey with 827, followed far behind by Acer at 811, Barnes & Noble at 803 and HP at 790. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed considered performance as the most important factor, while 22 percent said ease of use was important. In another interesting part of the survey, while the world is becoming more mobile, desktops are still king. Those respondents with tablets spend 7.5 hours per week on them browsing the Internet, watching videos, listening to music or reading books, compared to 9.6 hours per week on a PC doing the same activities.

The competition between Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the tablet market has been pretty intense already, and now with more direct competition this holiday season, we may be able to determine once and for all which company might have the best tablet in the market – because consumers do speak loudly with their wallets. This will be interesting to watch for investors in Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock like hedge-fund manager Jim Chanos of Kynikos.