The category of network switches has not seen any noticeable change, when it
comes to the brands that make to the Users' Choice Club and the corresponding
rankings they hold on the basis of brand perception. Cisco and D-Link have made
it again to the top two positions and so significantly have marked their
presence that other contenders appear to be left out in the league. The TOM
recall is highest for Cisco at 58% followed by D-Link at 30% of the total 244
respondents in the survey.
While Cisco dominates its presence across all the industry verticals, D-Link
holds significance in discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, health-care
and services. Digging in further, Cisco has actually replaced D-Link in the
heath-care vertical which was lead by the latter last year. Also, Cisco emerges
out as a leading brand in north, south and west geographical zones while D-Link
is the more preferred in the east zone.
Users' Choice Club 2010 |
Cisco and D-Link have remained unperturbed on their positions and rule the segment again as was in 2009. |
Future Brand Preference Reasons |
Even the winners have not received a decent % response when it comes to after sales support/services as the reason. |
As per the survey, reliability of product and brand name, have come out to be
the significant reasons for future preference choice of a brand. Substantial 82%
respondents are likey to chose Cisco and D-Link (individual scores) for future
brand preference, courtesy, the reliability factor. However, even the top two
brands have not received a decent percentage response when it comes to after
sales support/services as the reason, dwindling to a mere 17% when it comes to
D-Link and 37% for Cisco.
Brand Loyalty 2010 vs 2009 |
Cisco & D-Link have gained in brand loyalty as compared to 2009. No major brand-shift pattern is expected in future. |
With 85% brand loyalty, Cisco is expected to lose to a shift-out of 3% to
D-Link and the undecided respondents contribute to another 10%. D-Link again is
expected to lose its 4% current brand owners to Cisco while brand loyalty
remains at a remarkable 88%. It would be interesting to see, if other players of
the segment become competitive enough to pose a challenge to the ruling brands
in the near future.