Apple repeats as Harris Poll's 'Brand of the Year' in three categories

According to the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend study, which samples over 38,000 U.S. consumers on a broad range of products and services, Apple repeated its category-topping performances in the computer, tablet and mobile phone segments.

"Americans continue to give Apple brands strong ratings," said Manny Flores, a Harris Interactive senior vice president. "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."

The Consumer Connection metric measures a brand's "Emotion, Fit, Trust and Performance," while Brand Momentum measures "Energy, Ubiquity, Future Outlook, Leadership and Popularity."

Consumers put Apple ahead of HP, Dell and Sony in the computer category, though the Cupertino company's Quality score dropped from 2012. Brand Momentum picked up this year, however, keeping Apple at the front of the pack.

As for the tablet category, Apple's iPad brand was followed by Amazon's Kindle Fire lineup, Google's Nexus series and Samsung's Galaxy devices. Despite its anti-iPad marketing blitz, Microsoft failed to push its Surface tablet into the top five.

Finally, Apple's iPhone led the mobile phone segment, followed by Android device makers HTC, Samsung and LG. BlackBerry and Microsoft's Windows Phone were among the brands ranked below the category average.

Apple also ranked above average as an online computer retailer, but the Online Apple Store fell short of Microsoft.com and this year's Brand of the Year, Newegg.com.