Apple holds customer satisfaction crown for eighth year running

Apple has triumphed yet again in an annual customer satisfaction survey to find which PC brands are best regarded by their customers. HP, ironically, came second.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index reported Apple up a percentage point from last year at 87, having triumphed in this survey for a staggering eight years in a row.

Others in the index included Acer, Dell and, interestingly, HP, which is currently deciding on whether to ditch its PC business altogether.

The computing giant has already announced plans to offload its webOS division, despite having bought Palm only a year ago for a whopping $1.2bn, but managed to place second with 78 points.

Apple is, of course, famous for its loyal and dedicated, some might say fanatical, following, so it should probably come as no surprise that the company has dominated the rankings to such an extent.

Its performance since the index began has been pretty impressive, the only bum note coming in 1998, coincidentally the year Steve Jobs returned to the company he co-founded, when the firm hit an all-time low of 69.

Whether this index is worth taking seriously by Apple's competitors is another matter. It's unlikely HP will prick up its ears and reconsider selling its PC business on the back of its impressive performance here, although stranger things have happened.