Apple Wins America’s 'Brand Of The Year' Title In The Mobile Phone, Tablet And Computer Categories

When it comes to brand names in mobile phones, tablets and computers, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is still considered number one by American consumers, notwithstanding criticism from tech enthusiasts in the post-Steve Jobs era, according to a study by Harris Interactive.

The annual study was based on the perceptions of more than 38,500 U.S. consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across over 155 categories. Apple was awarded the “Brand of the Year” title in the categories mentioned, placing it above other competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, or HP, (NYSE:HPQ), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Samsung (KRX:005935), and HTC (TPE:2498).

"Americans continue to give Apple brands strong ratings," Manny Flores, senior vice president at Harris Interactive, said in a statement on Thursday. “And while their Consumer Connection scores are strong within their respective categories, what really stands out is that in all three of the categories Apple brands are measured - Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone - its Brand Momentum scores are in the top 30 of all 1,500 brands evaluated in the study, showing that consumers see this as a brand of the future.”

In the computers category, HP came second, followed by Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) and style-focused Sony (NYSE:SNE). In the tablets category, the brands that followed Apple's iPad include Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Fire, Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Nexus Series, Samsung Galaxy and HP Slate.

"While both the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire series of tablets show small gains in Brand Equity for 2013, they both receive strong increases for Purchase Consideration,” Flores said.

In the mobile phone category, the Apple iPhone earned the “2013 Mobile Phone Brand of the Year” title, followed by HTC, Samsung and LG.

The Harris Interactive report contradicts a BBC report, released in March, about a survey done by marketing group Added Value, which said that consumers in the U.S. now perceive Apple as less inspiring than it was three years ago.