Apple brand rating drops due to ‘lack of new products’

Apple’s brand preference rating fell by 5.1 points between Q2 and Q4 2013, according to new Strategy Analytics stats.

The research firm said that Apple’s performance was one of the weakest of 21 major technology brands with its rating falling furthest in its “core affluent and younger demographics.”

“This may be attributed to its relative lack of new product introductions,” said Strategy Analytics.

The survey, which polled people in aged 15 to 65 in Europe and the US gave Apple a preference rating of 17.3 – behind HP with 19.7, Microsoft with 24.5, Sony with 43.9 and Samsung, which came top with a rating of 57.2.
Samsung retained its place at the top with gains in continental Europe, despite falling back in the US and UK.

However, “the best performance came from Chinese brand Huawei with an increase of 3.8 points since Q2 2013 and strong gains in upper income segments,” said Strategy Analytics.

The brand preference rating is designed to indicate the balance between consumers who say they would choose a brand and those who would not, when buying technology products like TVs, computers and mobile phones.