Editor's note: This article appeared in the November 14, 2011, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.
Nintendo Wii affirmed that it is the No. 1 video game system for Americans ages 13-to-24 and surpassed Sony's PlayStation 3 to become the video-gaming platform Brand of the Year, according to the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study by Harris Interactive, a Rochester, N.Y., research company.
While game systems in general received higher equity scores than other technologies surveyed, Nintendo Wii earned the overall highest equity score among all technology brands included in the study, despite the success and popularity of Apple's products. Apple brands swept the computer, mobile phone and computer tablet categories, proving to be the undisputed leading electronics brands among young consumers.
Youth EquiTrend calculates brand equity by measuring familiarity, quality and purchase consideration; develops an average score for each category; and awards Brand of the Year honors to the highest-ranking brands in their respective categories. Within the 13 youth interest categories that comprise the study, there are four technology, telecommunication and gaming groups: computer, mobile phone, computer tablet and video-gaming platform.
In the computer category, Apple was named the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend Brand of the Year, followed by Hewlett-Packard, Sony and Dell. For mobile phones, Apple's iPhone took top honors, followed by HTC phones, Samsung phones and LG phones, respectively. Looking at the newest form of computer - the tablet - again Apple topped the list with its iPad. Other contenders in the tablet category were Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry PlayBook and Samsung Galaxy. In the video game category, which includes youth ages 8-to-24 instead of 13-to-24, the Nintendo Wii won out over the Sony PlayStation 3 and then the Nintendo DS.