Stronger Products Across Appliances and Electronics Can’t Offset Service Declines, ACSI Data Show

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Product-related customer experience benchmarks improve or hold steady across televisions, personal computers, household appliances, and vacuum cleaners in 2026, yet overall satisfaction proves harder to move.

According to the ACSI Household Appliance and Electronics Study 2026, satisfaction falls in all four industries. Televisions slip 1% to an ACSI score of 81 (on a scale of 0-100). Personal computers drop 4% to 78. Household appliances edge down 1% to 80. Vacuum cleaners dip 1% to 78.

The disconnect shows up most clearly in service access. Ease of arranging a repair falls 7% for both televisions and personal computers, and 5% for vacuum cleaners. Call center satisfaction drops 4% for PCs. Both mobile app quality and reliability dip across appliances and vacuums.

The declines arrive against a backdrop of converging product quality and mounting cost pressures. In the PC market, replacement-driven demand and tariff-related headwinds weigh on the industry, while the Windows 10 end-of-support migration adds friction to device transitions. In televisions, value brands continue closing the gap on premium manufacturers as advanced display technology moves downmarket, and 61% of U.S. internet households now use their smart TV as the primary streaming device, raising the stakes for app performance and software reliability.

“The products across these industries are relatively strong, but satisfaction depends on more than the product,” said Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “When a customer needs service and can't schedule a repair, or downloads an app that crashes, or calls a support line that doesn't resolve the issue, that shapes their view of the brand just as much as the product sitting in their home. Manufacturers must consider the entire lifecycle of the products they create or risk alienating consumers and negatively impacting customer satisfaction.”

Other key takeaways from the study include:

Televisions

• Every reported TV brand declines year over year. Hisense (down 1%), Samsung (down 2%), and Vizio (down 1%) share the lead at 81, while TCL posts the largest decline at 4% to 78.
• Product benchmarks strengthen broadly. Image quality leads at 86, and both exterior design and internal configuration options jump 2% to 84.
• Service measures post the steepest declines in the study. Response to OLED burn-in issues falls 8% to 72, ease of arranging service drops 7% to 75, the outcome of service repairs slips 3% to 78, and courtesy and helpfulness of service technicians slides 3% to 77. Timeliness of repairs improves 1% to 79, the only service measure to gain ground.

Personal Computers

• Apple (down 1%) and Samsung (unchanged) share the lead at 81. HP posts the largest drop, falling 5% to 79 after leading the industry a year ago. Acer climbs 4% to 78, the biggest gain among returning brands.
• Desktop satisfaction drops 7% to 78, erasing its lead over laptops (down 2% to 79). Tablets slip 1% to 76.
• Every manufacturer-provided service benchmark declines. Ease of arranging service falls 7% to 75, courtesy and helpfulness of technicians drops 4% to 76, and the outcome of service repairs falls 3% to 78.

Household Appliances

• Haier (including GE, Haier, and Hotpoint brands) emerges as the new industry leader at 82, improving 3% and leading four of six appliance segments: range/cooktop/oven (84), washer (84), over-the-range microwave (82), and refrigerator (82). Whirlpool leads dishwashers (84) and dryers (83).
• Bosch rises 1% to 81, the only other returning brand to improve. Electrolux posts the largest decline among returning brands, falling 3% to 78. Hisense (76) and Midea (75) enter the competitive field for the first time.
• Service execution improves notably. Courtesy and helpfulness of technicians and timeliness of repairs each jump 4% to 79. Call center satisfaction rises 3% to 76. Yet overall satisfaction still declines as customer complaints increase and reliability weakens.

Vacuum Cleaners

• Shark holds at 81 and takes the top position. Samsung follows at 80 (down 2%), with Bissell and Dyson (each down 1%) tied at 79. No returning brand improves. Kenmore (78) and Oreck (76) join the field, while LG debuts at 74.
• Convenience and design measures drive the strongest gains. Exterior design jumps 3% to 81, noise during operation improves 3% to 77, and ease of emptying the canister rises 1% to 83.
• Service access posts the largest decline as ease of arranging service falls 5% to 77. Mobile app quality drops 4% to 80.
• Cordless stick vacuums and robot vacuums with AI-powered navigation continue moving into the mainstream, reshaping expectations around mobility and convenience, particularly among younger consumers.

The ACSI Household Appliance and Electronics Study 2026 is based on 21,590 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between July 2025 and June 2026. Customers are asked to evaluate their recent experiences with the largest companies in terms of market share, plus an aggregate category consisting of “all other” — and thus smaller — companies. Download the full study and follow the ACSI on LinkedIn.

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data and information in this release without the express prior written consent of ACSI LLC.

About the ACSI

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI^®) is a national economic indicator and a leading provider of customer analytics products that help organizations build lasting customer relationships and prove ROI on experience investments. ACSI’s AI-enhanced platform delivers intuitive dashboards and cause-and-effect analytics that pinpoint the quality drivers most predictive of customer allegiance, retention, price tolerance, and financial performance. ACSI data has been shown to correlate strongly with key micro and macroeconomic indicators, including consumer spending, GDP growth, earnings, and stock returns.

Founded in 1994 at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the ACSI measures customer satisfaction with more than 400 companies in over 40 industries, including federal government services, based on approximately 200,000 annual interviews. Learn more at https://www.theacsi.com/.

ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC.