Apple rated top technology brand in Harris Poll EquiTrend study
29 Jul 2013
While many have questioned the fate of Apple Inc post Steve Jobs, the technology giant continues to hold its spot as the top technology brand across three mainstream categories, according to findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study.
In its first full year under the helm of Tim Cook, Apple took home repeat Brand of the Year distinctions in three categories - computer, tablet and mobile phone - in the annual study, which measures the perceptions of more than 38,500 American consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across over 155 categories.
"Americans continue to give Apple brands strong ratings," says Manny Flores, senior vice president at Harris Interactive.
Flores said that Apple Brand Momentum scores in the top 30 of all 1,500 brands evaluated in the study, showing that consumers see this as a brand of the future."
"Despite a drop in Apple's Quality score for this year, their Brand Momentum score increased, which was driven by increases in Ubiquity and Popularity scores," Flores said.
The study showed that Hewlett-Packard computers held steady year-over-year behind Apple computers, but has been unable to match the peak its Brand Equity scores reached in 2011. Also finishing above the category average are Dell, as well as the style-focused Sony computer brand.
The EQ study revealed that other computer brands ranked below category average were Acer, Asus, Compaq, Fujitsu, Gateway, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung and Toshiba.
In tablets, Apple's iPad series, which expanded its offerings in 2012 with the iPad mini, receives the Tablet Brand of the Year distinction for the second consecutive year, followed by Amazon's Kindle Fire series.
Other tablet brands ranked above category average were Google Nexus Series, Samsung Galaxy Series and HP Slate Series, while those ranked below category average are BlackBerry' PlayBook, Microsoft Surface, Motorola XOOM, and Nook HD Series.
For the second consecutive year, the iPhone earned the 2013 Mobile Phone Brand of the Year title. HTC, Samsung and LG, each with Android phones in their lineups, also outperform the category average, according to EQ.
Mobile phone brands that are ranked above category average are HTC, Samsung, and LG, while those ranked below category in the study are Blackberry, Kyocera, Motorola, Nokia, Pantech
Computer brands ranked above category average:
a. Apple Computers - 2013ComputerBrand of the Year
b. Hewlett-Packard (HP) Computers
c. Dell Computers
d. Sony Computers
Tablet brands ranked above category average:
a. Apple iPad Series –2013 Tablet Brand of the Year
b. Kindle Fire Series
c. Google Nexus Series
d. Samsung Galaxy Series
e. HP Slate Series
Mobile Phone brands ranked above category average:
a. Apple iPhone – 2013 Mobile Phone Brand of the Year
b. HTC Phone
c. Samsung Phone
d. LG Phone
Printer brands ranked above category average:
a. HP Printing & Imaging – Printer Brand of the Year
b. Canon Printing & Imaging
c. Kodak Printing & Imaging
d. Samsung Printing & Imaging
e. Xerox Printing & Imaging
Online Computer Retailer brands ranked above category average:
a. Newegg.com – Online Computer Retailer Brand of the Year
b. Microsoft.com
c. Store.Apple.com (Apple Store)
d. BestBuy.com
