Sony tops 'Brands of Choice 2004'

BANGALORE: Sony has been voted the most preferred brand in the digital electronics segment. It has won six of the sixteen product categories, while rival Samsung walked home with four. The other winners were HP-Compaq, Nokia and IBM in their respective categories of the Living Digital-IDC Brands of Choice 2004 study.

Sony won for the home entertainment products–home theater, DVD player, in-car entertainment and music system, and imaging products–digital camera and camcorder. Samsung topped in television, MP3 player, PC monitor and CD writer categories. While desktop PC and inkjet printer top brands were bagged by HP-Compaq, IBM picked for notebook. For mobiles, Nokia retained top position and the Internet service of choice, went to VSNL.

According to the study, "the biggest overall finding of the survey is that the Indian consumer today is more brand conscious. Brand is the top parameter of purchase for almost all product categories. And the awareness of different brands in each product category is high as well. The other major finding is that the digital consumer knows the value for what he’s paying. The attention to relevant features is high, and the consumer is overall conscious about his choices."

Other trends thrown up by the survey are that, desktop PCs and mobiles came up as the most sought-after products, with 28 per cent and 23 per cent people intending to buy them respectively. DVD players, notebooks and Multi Functional Devices (MFDs) are poised to register the fastest growth this year. Home-theater systems, digital cameras, video camcorders and MP3 are also expected to witness a sustained increase over the coming year.

CIOL Bureau