If there were any further doubts about the increasing prominence of today’s two most successful technology brands they are dispelled by the results of our latest ConsumerMetrix Technology Brand Preference Index. Tracking changes in sentiment over the past half-year, the survey found that only two out of 17 top international brands managed to increase their score significantly.

Samsung led the way with a rise of 4.4%, followed by Apple with 2.3%. Panasonic and Asus managed marginal improvements, but every other brand saw a decline in its brand preference score. Those worst hit were mobile-centric brands Blackberry (down nearly 10%), Motorola and Nokia (each recording falls of more than 4%). The industry will be familiar with the woes of these firms but it seems that consumer sentiment is not far behind.

Apple’s improved score has allowed it to leapfrog HP to third place in the table, but it remains some way behind Sony. Even though the Japanese giant slipped one point it remains firmly in second place (and perhaps contradicting the previous comment, since Sony’s troubles have apparently not led to a collapse in consumer support, yet). It is worth noting that Apple scores markedly worse in France and Germany than in other countries, but it has now overtaken Samsung to become the most preferred brand in the highest income segments.

Our survey asked more than 6500 consumers across the US and EU4 (France, Germany, Italy, UK) to indicate how likely they would choose a brand when considering buying technology products such as computers, mobile phones, TVs or related products. Importantly we ask people to consider what they know about these brands and what they normally spend on such products.

We’re not releasing the full set of data this time, but you can access the previous table here. The full rankings, in order of preference, are now Samsung, Sony, Apple, HP, LG, Panasonic, Dell, Nokia, Philips, Toshiba, Acer, Sharp, Asus, Motorola, Sanyo, Blackberry, Lenovo. We did include other brands in the survey, including “emerging” hardware brands like Amazon and Google, but we are saving those results for future analysis (and for our valued clients).

David Mercer

About fifteen years ago I was interviewed by a Korean television station which was examining Samsung’s plans to become a world force in consumer electronics. It’s difficult to imagine in 2012, but in 1997 Samsung was pretty much a no-name brand, or at best third-tier, in many parts of the world. I received one question which sticks in my mind: “When do you think Samsung can become a major global brand?”  And I remember my answer fairly well: “It will take at least five years to become globally recognised, but leadership may be possible within ten.”

Our latest ConsumerMetrix Bulletin demonstrates just how dramatically successful Samsung’s strategy has been. Samsung is now the most preferred technology brand in every single market, age group and income bracket included in our survey. To be fair, it only just scrapes in as number one in the highest income groups, where it is in a very close race with Apple and Sony. But there’s no doubt that Samsung’s strength is its appeal across all consumer segments.

Samsung’s number one position may surprise some people, given the enormous commercial success of one of its key rivals, Apple. From general media coverage, which Apple is clearly expert at managing, it might be assumed that Apple is streets ahead of any competitor. But our survey shows that while Apple certainly is a powerhouse with younger and more affluent consumers, its appeal is more limited with other segments. Since most of Apple’s competitors would swap financial statements in the blink of an eye, this does appear to raise the question: does overall brand preference actually matter? It clearly doesn’t offer the whole story for a comprehensive competitive analysis, but we do believe it offers valuable guidance on future consumer decisions and overall brand value.

 Apple’s success is even more recent than Samsung’s, having begun only with the launch of the iPod ten years ago, and even then its rise began slowly. It could be that Apple’s trendline is steeper than Samsung’s: if Apple’s preference ratings are growing more rapidly in different segments it may be on course to catch Samsung at some point in the future. We will be conducting further analysis of our ConsumerMetrix datasets to establish some guidance on these issues.

David Mercer

Samsung’s continued growth as a leading technology brand is highlighted in our latest ConsumerMetrix Bulletin, which finds that Samsung is the most preferred technology brand amongst Sky households in the UK. 51% of Sky customers say they would definitely or probably buy a Samsung-branded technology product, compared to 46% for Sony or SonyEricsson, and 42% for Apple. CMOs at Motorola and Lenovo had better look away now: their brands are preferred by only 15% and 7% of Sky customers respectively.

Sky has a higher-than-average income profile in the UK, so that’s even better news for brands targeting Sky customers. Sky’s penetration of £60k+ annual income households is now nearly 50%. And Sky households also own more of virtually every technology product included in our ConsumerMetrix survey.

ConsumerMetrix also shows that Sky has worked hard to improve its customer satisfaction ratings over the past year. After they dipped in 2011, there was a recovery on most metrics in Q1 2012. So in spite of the challenging economic background, Sky continues to excel at what it has always done best – focusing on the needs of its customers, albeit at a price: “overall value for money” is once again given the lowest rating by Sky’s customers.

David Mercer