Apple trumps Acer and Lenovo in user love stakes

Apple may be in for some short-term pain when it comes to the Mac but it can take comfort in the fact that recent buyers seem very satisfied with their purchases.

ChangeWave released a survey this week charting the likelihood of respondents to buy a personal computer over the next 90 days from one manufacturer as opposed to another, and customer satisfaction ratings.

Apple customers over the past 90 days reported by far the highest level of satisfaction in ChangeWave's survey, with 81 per cent of Apple customers saying they were "highly satisfied". Asus customers were the second-most satisfied group, with 67 per cent reporting they were highly satisfied with their purchase, while 61 per cent of Acer customers fell into that category. Lenovo was last, with only 50 per cent reporting such levels of satisfaction.

ChangeWave surveyed "senior technology and business executives in leading companies of select industries".

The survey also backed up NPD data from earlier this week that suggested Mac sales are slowing in the early part of the year. Over the past 90 days, only 20 per cent of respondents said they bought a Mac laptop and just 15 per cent said they bought a Mac desktop, down from 22 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, recorded in ChangeWave's January survey.

Those numbers may just represent a post-Christmas lag, however. Over the next 90 days, 30 per cent of respondents said they plan to buy a Mac laptop, up from 27 per cent who said the same thing in January. Mac desktop suitors dipped slightly, from 27 per cent to 26 per cent, but that could change if new iMacs are released over the next few months.

Original article: Survey: Apple's Mac customers highly satisfied from CNET News.com