Apple’s buzz score among UK consumers falls flat after battery issue, YouGov data shows
Around this time last month, tech giant Apple faced criticism after admitting to slowing down older model iPhones when their battery is old, cold or has low charge.
Apple chief Tim Cook responded by announcing an update for iOS will provide a new option to turn off the feature that slows down devices. But what impact has the negative press had on consumer perception of the brand?
YouGov brand tracking data shows the news has had an effect on Apple iPhone’s buzz score (whether you have heard something positive or negative about the brand), which dropped from six points on 19 December to minus 12 points at its lowest point on the 10th January. The overarching Apple brand’s buzz score has also taken a hit, declining from five to minus 14 over the same period.
But things now appear to be improving – with Apple iPhone’s buzz rising by seven points and Apple’s score rising by five points. However, both remain in negative territory.
The adverse press has also affected the Apple iPhone’s impression score.
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Among all respondents surveyed the measure initially dropped from 25 to 13 but again there has been somewhat of a partial recovery, to 19.
There was a similar decline among the brand’s customers, with their impression score decreasing from 74 to 59, before rising again to a current point of 71. Of course Apple is not the only major tech brand to face a crisis. And while there may be some customers thinking of switching to another manufacturer, they will remember difficulties others have experienced. Apple’s rival Samsung saw many of its brand health metrics decline markedly following press around its ‘exploding phones’.
In Samsung’s case, though, while it did eventually see its impression score recover to pre-crisis levels, it took around 12 months to do so.
Apple can therefore take solace from the fact that its own scores are already showing improvement, and especially so among its existing customer base.
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