14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon is the leading company in the 2018 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient poll involving 25,800 adults in the United States, while Apple and Google recorded a dramatic decline.
Cupertino-based Apple dropped no less than 24 places in the chart and is now ranked 29th, while search giant Google fell from 8th to 28th.
On the other hand, Microsoft is currently the 11th company in the poll, only ahead of Nike, while Samsung is number 35, followed by Dell and Unilever. Facebook is ranked 51st.
As for the reasons why Apple and Google recorded such a dramatic decline, John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll, says it’s all because of the most recent products unveiled by the two companies. Their launches have gradually lost the attention they used to get, Gerzema continues, and products unveiled in the latest years failed to be as successful as those of the original iPhone and Google Maps.
“Google and Apple, at this moment, are sort of in valleys,” Gerzema told Reuters. “We’re not quite to self-driving cars yet. We’re not yet seeing all the things in artificial intelligence they’re going to do.”
Apple’s struggle for innovation
Apple’s recently-launched iPhone X has failed to generate the excitement that the company hoped it’d produce, and instead is selling well below expectations. The firm is now cutting orders for its suppliers by as much as 50 percent, as it expects declining sales in the current quarter.
On the other hand, Apple hopes the 2018 iPhone generation would help build up its reputation, as three different models would be unveiling, including a device that would sell at a more affordable price.
At the same time, Cupertino is also rethinking its software plans with an increased focus on security and reliability given the worrying number of bugs discovered lately in desktop and mobile platforms. The focus has been switched from new features to improving performance, according to people familiar with the plans, and the next releases should come with substantial refinements in this regard.
