In recent years, when it comes to top brands in the United States, Apple has been an obvious winner. But times are changing, and according to an annual survey conducted by Forrester Research, Apple is losing the appeal to US consumers that it once had.
In a survey of 4,500 Americans, Microsoft came out on top, due in part to its cross-generational appeal, and the fact that consumers consider Microsoft products such as Windows and Office to be essential to their daily lives. While Apple came in second, Sony and Samsung came in third and fourth respectively. You can read the full article from Computerworld here:
The keys to Microsoft’s move into first, said Tracy Stokes, the Forrester analyst who led the survey team, were its unbeatable score in the “Essentials” category — one of four used in Forrester’s calculations — and its high trust ranking across all age groups.
“Microsoft’s essentiality is so ubiquitous, there’s really no alternative [in consumers’ minds] to Windows and Office,” said Stokes of Microsoft’s two most-recognized franchises. “Microsoft has a utilitarian essentiality, not the kind of emotional essentiality that Apple relies on.”
Apple and Samsung, in fact, scored just as highly as did Microsoft in three of the four categories, but fell behind in Essentials. “Although Apple is seen as providing products and services ‘that meet my needs’ and offering ‘the highest-quality product/offering,’ consumers do not consider Apple to be as essential as Microsoft,” Stokes wrote in her report on the survey findings. “Apple was once emotionally essential, but as it loses its emotional hold, it won’t be able to win solely on utilitarian qualities.”
The survey also found that Microsoft has more broad support across every demographic age group, while Apple and Samsung resonate best with the younger crowd.
Apple’s fall from first place may be attributed to struggles over the last year and a half, including criticism around innovation and a drop in its stock price. At the same time, Microsoft’s recent move toward a more coherent, singular brand, “One Microsoft,” likely contributed to the win.
Check out Gregg Keizer’s full article on Computerworld.
