Investors may be questioning Apple’s operations, but consumers remain faithful to the brand. According to findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend study, Apple took home repeat Brand of the Year distinctions in three categories – Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone – in the annual study, which measures the perceptions of 38,500+ American consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across over 155 categories.

Manny Flores, senior vice president at Harris Interactive, said Americans continue to give Apple brands strong ratings. 

“And while their Consumer Connection scores are strong within their respective categories, what really stands out is that in all three of the categories Apple brands are measured – Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone – its Brand Momentum scores are in the top 30 of all 1,500 brands evaluated in the study, showing that consumers see this as a brand of the future,” Flores said. 

In the world of tablets, Apple’s iPad received the Tablet Brand of the Year distinction for the second consecutive year. Amazon’s Kindle Fire series, which also expanded in 2012 with the addition of HD and larger offerings, follows.

“While both the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire series of tablets show small gains in Brand Equity for 2013, they both receive strong increases for Purchase Consideration,” said Flores. “These increases show how the relatively new Tablet technology has grown to meet the needs of both the sophisticated and first time tablet buyer.”  

For the second consecutive year, the iPhone earned the 2013 Mobile Phone Brand of the Year title. HTC, Samsung and LG, each with Android phones in their lineups, also outperform the category average.

The Harris poll also looks at carrier brands. Verizon received the top position in two mobile service categories:  the Pre-Paid Mobile Carrier Brand of the Year title (for the second consecutive year) and the Mobile Network Brand of the Year title (for the third year in a row). 

“Both Verizon brands receive strong scores straight across the board, including in the areas of Consumer Connection and Brand Momentum,” Flores said.

AT&T also scored ahead of the category average for both of these categories, while TracFone Wireless outperformed the Pre-Paid Mobile Carrier category average.