MPC Computers’ Notebooks Top Customer Satisfaction Study
NAMPA, Idaho, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — MPC Computers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MPC Corporation , received a first place ranking in a recently released report on customer satisfaction among corporate users of notebook computers. The report, Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction Study: Notebooks is based on a fourth quarter 2007 survey of 648 IT managers conducted by Technology Business Research, Inc. (TBR).
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The survey, which includes questions about manufacturer delivery times, phone support, replacement parts availability, repair time, hardware quality, ease of doing business, product design and overall satisfaction, covers products from MPC/Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Dell. For the second consecutive quarter, MPC/Gateway ranked number one — a position it shares with HP in 4Q07.
Contrary to perceptions that personal computers are a commodity market, the TBR report reveals that “a stable one-in-three ratio of customers perceive real differences” between vendors based on much more than pricing. Chief among these differences is hardware quality and reliability — an area where MPC/Gateway scored well.
The report also noted that MPC/Gateway’s overall score “receded gently” as declines in phone support and ease of doing business offset advances in hardware quality/reliability. Report author Julie Perron observed that this decline may be more a reflection of concern over the Gateway acquisition than based on actual experience. “Clearly, there will be some adjustments for customers to make as they come to experience the new, significantly larger corporation backing Gateway’s original products.”
“Having worked through the merger of MPC and Gateway Pro product lines, capturing first place in the TBR study is very gratifying,” said Jeff Fillmore, Chief Operating Officer for MPC. “A clear message from the study is that a reputation for product reliability will be the leading ingredient for success in the marketplace, and needs to be wrapped into a complete package including innovative design elements and services. This plays right into our strong suit as a computer manufacturer.”
In addressing customer service issues as a factor of survey ranking, report author Julie Perron concluded that “Gateway Professional and MPC share a common philosophy of customer service excellence in a personalized fashion, offering training programs customized for education and government customers and specialized programs with partners.” TBR’s buying behavior studies and customer satisfaction reports are well known in the computer industry and are used as the metric by which companies evaluate their performance (for more information go to http://www.tbri.com/).
About MPC Corporation
MPC Corporation , a major US PC vendor since 1991, provides enterprise IT hardware solutions to small-and-medium businesses, government agencies and education organizations. With its acquisition of Gateway’s Professional business in October 2007, MPC became one of the leaders in the US market providing PCs, servers and storage products to professional customers. MPC provides additional value with an industry-leading level of service and support. For more information, visit MPC online at http://www.mpccorp.com/.
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MPC Corporation
CONTACT: Media, Michael Boss of MPC Corporation, +1-208-893-1057,mjboss@mpccorp.com; or IR Contact, Harriet Fried of Lippert|Heilshorn,+1-212-838-3777, hfried@lhai.com, for MPC Corporation
Web site: http://www.mpccorp.com/http://www.tbri.com/