SEOUL, KOREA - To a question "What is your favorite brand if you plan to buy a new smartphone" Samsung topped the list with about 30 percent of respondents saying they want to choose Samsung brand, according to a recent survey conducted by the Credit Suisse Research Institute. CSRI announced its survey results on July 28. The institute asked the questions to 15,873 consumers from nine emerging countries including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

 

Samsung brand proved most popular among consumers in Saudi Arabia (57%), followed by Turkey (46%), Brazil (42%), China (38%), India (31%), Russia (27%) and Mexico (22%). Samsung, however, was outstripped in Indonesia and South Africa where the early entrants in the market like Nokia and Blackberry still proved more popular.

 

What's notable is that the overall popularity of Apple, the maker of the iconic iPhone series, turned out relatively low; Apple brand was a favorite choice in China and Saudi Arabia, but in other emerging markets, the brand perception of the iPhone maker are not that high, said CSRI.