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