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Sony and Nokia still a hit with Asian consumers

At last some good news for the under-fire duo

Nokia and Sony remain two of the most powerful brands in Asia despite high profile problems affecting both companies which have sent their market share, revenues and global reputation plummeting in recent months, according to a new piece of research.

Market consultancy Nikkei BP Consulting evaluated 60 global brands in eight countries across Asia in order to compile its annual Brand Asia report for 2012.

Companies’ brand power is evaluated according to four factors: "Outstanding", "Innovative", "Friendly" and "Convenient". The consultancy interviewed thousands of consumers all over the region, and also asked them about 40 local brands in order to benchmark the findings.

The brands surveyed came from various categories including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), IT/home electronics, retail, finance, internet-related and media.

Nokia perhaps surprisingly was ranked first in Indonesia, India and Vietnam, and came second in Thailand beating not only local tech rivals but also global brands such as Coca-Cola, BMW and Disney.

The Finnish mobile phone giant has seen its market share gradually eroded over the years and Q1 2012 revenue dropped almost a third year-on-year from €7bn to €4.2bn.

While its sales have managed to hold up pretty well in Africa and most of Asia, Nokia’s overall smartphone sales fell from 24.2 million a year ago to 11.2 million in Q1 2012, with shipments in China dropping dramatically from 23.9 million units in Q1 2011 to just 9.2m.

Ailing Japanese electronics giant Sony, meanwhile, appeared more frequently in the top ten than any other brand, and came first in Thailand, second in Taiwan and third in Vietnam.

The report had this:

Although the company continues to be a source of downbeat news – with a forecast a 520 billion yen net loss for the year to end-March 2012 and large-scale restructuring anticipated – in Asia Sony has a global brand asset to be proud of. Expectations will focus on measures to recover its operating performance and take advantage of this strong asset.

Less surprising in the report was the success of Apple, which took top spot in China, Taiwan and Japan, and came second in South Korea beating great rival Samsung into third in its home market.

However, the Korean electronics giant did better overall than the fruity toy maker, appearing most frequently in the top ten after Sony. ®

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