iTunes Store lags behind Netflix and two other competitors in satisfaction ranking

THE J.D. Power, a respected American research firm, is accustomed to disclosing its famous satisfaction rankings in several segments with Apple almost always occupying the top of the table. Today, however, things were quite different: in a report covering video services on demand, the representative of Ma, the iTunes Store, was in a mediocre fourth place.

Compton (new Dr. Dre album) featured on the iTunes Store

The survey was conducted between June and July with 3,928 consumers in the United States and took into account the following aspects: performance and reliability, variety of content, ease of use, customer service and cost.

Out of 1,000 possible points, the iTunes Store won 807 behind the (predictable) leader Netflix, with 829, and two services not yet present in Brazil: Hulu and VUDU, with 821 and 810 points, respectively. Behind the Apple media store is just the Amazon Video, with one point less (806).

The overall satisfaction index of the segment was 820 points, which means that VUDU, iTunes Store and Amazon Video were below the average in the category.

An interesting data collected by the firm has to do with the relationship of consumers with traditional cable TV services: in the universe surveyed, 60% of users still keep their pay TV plans intact; 23% cut plans for cheaper and less complete ones; 13% canceled these services completely and 4% never had them. These numbers provide an interesting clue that streaming at least for now they are seen more as a complement than as a replacement.

In a statement given to the AppleInsider, J.D. Power stated that the iTunes Store fared worse in the areas of cost and customer service, as well as in the content area. In fact, competitors such as Netflix can be placed in a separate category, considering that each day more resemble TV channels, with their own productions and a fixed fee that gives access to an unlimited amount of content.

Anyway, a sign that Apple needs to move in the field to win back the love of its dear customers.