Apple has once again claimed the top spot in the computer hardware section of the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The latest edition of the survey found that the company had an 84 per cent customer satisfaction rate, the highest among all computer vendors by a wide margin. Apple has held the top spot on the list for six years.

Second on the list was Dell, which claimed a 75 per cent satisfaction rating. HP, Gateway and HP's Compaq brand tied for third place with 74 per cent. The Compaq figure represented a six per cent jump from the last edition of the survey.

Professor Claes Fornell, who headed up the study, said that several PC vendors saw their satisfaction rates affected by the ongoing economic crisis.

"The recession has shifted demand towards lower-priced PCs, and HP is taking advantage by rolling out more of its less expensive Compaq models," he said. " Recent sales are up, and HP's share value has more than doubled relative to market since the beginning of the year."

The study marks yet another victory for Apple in the customer satisfaction space. In April, the company took top honours in a Forrester survey of computer owners, while in May, the iPhone ranked first among all smartphones in a JD Power survey.