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In a sector where brand loyalty is as fickle as the shifting sands of desert, it is crucial that brand managers keep in touch with changing custo-mer preferences. Unlike in the case of airlines or automobiles, addition of a single extra feature by a rival manufacturer may see a shift to that side. As the smartphone market continues to grow, it is critical to establish the loyalty of customers. As is the case worldwide, Nokia seems to hold sway among executives in Oman, who have voted overwhelmingly in its favour. As things stand, it will be a while before executives ditch Nokia, more often than not their first mobile phone and thus the one they are most familiar with, the one they have dropped many times and still found functional. The advent of iPhone into the market will definitely see a shift in the market dynamics next year.

Stars of the pack

I-mate and Samsung are two other brands that have bettered both the score and rank. While i-mate has moved into the top-three band displacing Motorola as the second runner-up, Samsung too has moved ahead of the US brand pushing it down to the No 5 position. I-mate has scored 31.33 per cent more points compared to the 2006 survey while Samsung too has improved its score.

Crackberry

The champion this year, we would say, is Blackberry. With Oman Mobile announcing plans to bring full Blackberry services to the sultanate, this erstwhile object of desire has become a tangible product. This probably has reflected in both the ranking as well score. Not only has it moved up the ladder by three rungs, it has also registered the biggest jump in points in this year’s survey. It has scored 361.54 per cent more points compared to 2006.