Holly Riggle, a 29-year-old white-collar worker from Ohio, is just the kind of everyday customer Apple Inc would love to have for its new iPhone 6, which launches Friday.
But Riggle is sticking to her Android smartphone, calling Apple less "original" than it was under former chief executive Steve Jobs. She's one of the 16 per cent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll who said Apple had become somewhat or much less cool in the last two years.
By comparison, some 11 per cent of respondents said that Android had lost some sheen in the same timeframe. In a similar poll a year ago, 14.3 per cent of 1,379 people surveyed thought Apple had lost its cool image between 2011 and 2012.
While still a juggernaut, with analysts expecting sales of around 9 million iPhone 6s in its launch weekend, Apple may be losing some of its shine, according to the poll.
More Americans feel that Apple has lost its "coolness"quotient than has the Android brand, according to the poll, conducted Sept. 8-13.
When questioned on how they perceive five popular technology brands - Apple, Android, Microsoft, Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard - respondents gave the highest coolness factor rating to the Android brand, which includes devices such as Samsung and others that run on Google's mobile operating software.
About 50 per cent said that in the last one to two years, the Android brand had grown cooler, compared with 48 per cent who voted for Apple.
Although the poll is based on a limited sample, it reflects how Android products, which tend to be less expensive, have caused Apple to shed some of its buzz.
"Especially when you have competitors who are doing a lot of innovative things themselves and great advertising, it's not surprising that Apple doesn't have the same cachet and coolness that it once did," said Kevin Lane Keller, a branding expert and professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.
- See more at: http://digital.asiaone.com/digital/news/some-consumers-say-apple-losing-its-cool-factorşthash.TLCnWbpy.dpufHolly Riggle, a 29-year-old white-collar worker from Ohio, is just the kind of everyday customer Apple Inc would love to have for its new iPhone 6, which launches Friday.
But Riggle is sticking to her Android smartphone, calling Apple less "original" than it was under former chief executive Steve Jobs. She's one of the 16 per cent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll who said Apple had become somewhat or much less cool in the last two years.
By comparison, some 11 per cent of respondents said that Android had lost some sheen in the same timeframe. In a similar poll a year ago, 14.3 per cent of 1,379 people surveyed thought Apple had lost its cool image between 2011 and 2012.
While still a juggernaut, with analysts expecting sales of around 9 million iPhone 6s in its launch weekend, Apple may be losing some of its shine, according to the poll.
More Americans feel that Apple has lost its "coolness"quotient than has the Android brand, according to the poll, conducted Sept. 8-13.
When questioned on how they perceive five popular technology brands - Apple, Android, Microsoft, Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard - respondents gave the highest coolness factor rating to the Android brand, which includes devices such as Samsung and others that run on Google's mobile operating software.
About 50 per cent said that in the last one to two years, the Android brand had grown cooler, compared with 48 per cent who voted for Apple.
Although the poll is based on a limited sample, it reflects how Android products, which tend to be less expensive, have caused Apple to shed some of its buzz.
"Especially when you have competitors who are doing a lot of innovative things themselves and great advertising, it's not surprising that Apple doesn't have the same cachet and coolness that it once did," said Kevin Lane Keller, a branding expert and professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.