The annual Harris Poll of the best brands, released Wednesday, showed Sony at the top for the seventh year in a row, while Apple showed up in the tenth spot, its first appearance in the top ten since before 1995. The research firmis Web site only goes back to 1995 when presenting companiesi previous spots on the list.
The Harris Interactive survey was conducted online between June 7 and 13, 2006, asking 2,351 U.S. adults: "We would like you to think about brands or names of products and services you know. Considering everything, which three brands do you consider the best?" The firm emphasized: "These are spontaneous replies. Respondents are not read or shown a list of brand names."
Dell came in second place, followed by Coca-Cola, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, and Kraft Foods. Microsoft, which last year tied HP for tenth, and General Motors, which was ninth in 2005, both dropped off the list this year. Microsoft was also excluded from the list in 2004, 2002, 2000, 1997, 1996, and 1995. In 2003, it came in fifth, in 2001 it was seventh, in 1999 it was sixth, and in 1998 it tied for eighth.
Harris noted that Chevrolet, Panasonic, Pepsi Cola, Nike and Maytag all received "a substantial number of mentions but not enough to make the top 10 list."