Sony was perhaps the most consistent brand, ranking in the top ten in most regions
Japan’s Nikkei BP Consulting has released the result of an interesting Asia-wide brand survey today. Its “Brand Asia 2012″ rankings span many industries, but has a number of insights into key trends surrounding the movers and shakers in tech in the region.
The survey focused on 60 global brands, as well as 40 regional for seven of the eight countries (regional brands for China, for whatever reason, were not included) [1].
Given the recent woes of Nokia (HEL:NOK1V; NYSE:NOK), it may come as a surprise to many that the company ranked atop the brand rankings for India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and second in Thailand. This was observed last year as well, and expect Nokia to continue to hold significant mindshare in emerging markets as it tries to win over ‘the next billion.’ But in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, Nokia did not appear in the top ten.
It’s interesting to contrast this with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which was the standout in more mature markets, ranking as the top brand in China [2], Japan, and Taiwan, and ranking second in South Korea. Compare that to India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, where Apple didn’t crack the top ten.
We’ve talked about the diversity of Asia before, and certainly these result seem to indicate a sort of economic dichotomy. Surprisingly, it was only Sony (NYSE:SNE) that was consistent across all regions, as it was the brand that was ranked in the top ten in the most regions, seven of the eight. According to the report, “Although the company continues to be a source of downbeat news… in Asia Sony has a global brand asset to be proud of.”
As much as we talk about market share for these players, particularly in the mobile space, studies like this are certainly an interesting reminder of how the general population sees these brands. The rankings are below, but I encourage you to check out the full report for even more details.