This is why Apple's iPad rules the tablet market

By Jonny Evans

Satisfaction. That's what it takes. Apple [AAPL] gets this. It repeats its standard procedure in each new industry sector it moves into: creating solutions which are good, beautiful and make people happy when they use them.

[ABOVE: As reported here, these satisfaction levels show how happy iPad users are with their Apple tablets.]

This is why Apple's iPad leads

Satisfaction. It's hard to find. The Rolling Stones understood this. You get to a satisfaction sweet spot through a combination of factors, few of which are to do with Megahertz, most connected to what use you can make of the device itself.

I'm not saying things such as megahertz, graphics processing speed or display resolution don't matter at all, they so do. But what also is true is that the computer market has changed. Even PCs are focused on ease-of-use these days, and the more technically-aware users who acted to spearhead the disruption of previous waves of IT have now been joined by millions who just want the blooming things to work.

Look at the Software Usability Research Laboratory data revealed by The Loop last night: 83.65 percent of survey respondents said they were satisfied with the user-friendliness of the tablet. Nearly two-thirds of all these users (62 percent) rate the iPad experience as "excellence".

[ABOVE: From the SURL survey, you can see the Apple tablet's growing impact on the workplace.]

That's satisfaction. You need to focus on the best possible product experience, from opening the box, setting it up to make use of, software upgrades and more.

Use it or lose it

What do people like most about the iPad? The apps (which make the device unique to each user), ease-of-use, screen size and portability. The mythical non-support for the dysfunctional Flash was also noted as a problem for some users, though that complaint should decline now Adobe's killed it.

"Overall, it seems as though Apple is listening to its customers," wrote SURL. "Many participants from the original study mentioned the lack of a camera and ability to multitask as being the LEAST liked features of the iPad. These were not mentioned as frequently in the current study, as Apple introduced cameras in the iPad 2 and made multitasking abilities available for both the original iPad and iPad 2."

Some will question the survey sample group: just 52 people. However, the responses are consistent with those seen in other iPad user surveys.

For example, a March 2011 ChangeWave survey (above) suggested iPad satisfaction levels as high as 95 percent, while a recent PC World survey declared the iPad to be: "Miles ahead of the pack in durability, ease of use, and features such as battery life, screen quality, and overall speed."

Design matters

It continues to amaze me that despite Apple being so open with its business model (make good things people like), many competitors continue to believe people want only 'averagely good' devices.

Good may be an arbitrary term, but user satisfaction isn't. The relatively affordable price of the iPad in conjunction with that incredibly healthy second user market means that as Apple moves into the New Year it can already count on many millions of existing device users actively considering purchase of the next-generation iPad when it ships.

This is why Apple will rule the tablet market in 2012. Satisfaction. It's important. It's hard to find. It's much, much harder to design.

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[Below: Happy holidays. Even Siri is a meme -- this is your seasonal iPhone horror story. Have a great Christmas.]