It looks like Apple could be handing over the tech coolness crown to Microsoft.
A survey carried out by Reuters shows young people think Microsoft is cooler than Facebook and Twitter, although Apple is still tops.
The software maker, often derided in Silicon Valley for failing to dream up products that captivate a new generation of social media and mobile savvy consumers, managed to pip Facebook Inc (FB.O) in the survey - only 42 percent of young adults thought the world's largest social network is cooler now than in the past. Twitter scored 47 percent, below Microsoft's 50 percent.
Part of Microsoft's lift appears to stem from a well-coordinated marketing blitz around its all-new Surface tablets, which have revamped the familiar Windows interace with a tile-based, mobile app-friendly look and feel. Its Xbox gaming console and "Kinect" accessory, which can respond to gestures and voice commands, has in the past year also burnished its image around younger consumers.
Josh Johnson, a 24-year-old media arts student at the University of South Carolina and self-professed gaming aficionado, said he has been impressed with Microsoft's consumer-oriented push with Windows 8.
"It's more customizable, and not as rigid as an Apple phone, where you have to buy all the products from Apple," Johnson said. "If you want a ringtone, you don't have to pay iTunes."
He added: "I know Apple is the cool, hip brand right now, but if Microsoft keeps coming out with new tech I'm sure it'll be back soon."
Apple Inc (AAPL.O), despite falling out of favour with many Wall Street investors, still scored well in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, the first in a series that aims to measure brand perception and usage over time for major consumer tech brands.
About 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-old respondents still thought Apple was cooler now than in the past. But Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android brand did even better, with a full 70 percent giving it the thumbs up.
Although "coolness" remains, at best, an amorphous concept, consumer perceptions are pivotal in determining the longevity of products, particularly in the fast-moving consumer electronics industry.
Microsoft dominates the personal computing industry and is still far larger than most other tech corporations on the planet. But it has seldom won plaudits for cutting-edge consumer technology and its share price has plateaued for a decade under CEO Steve Ballmer's watch.
Apart from Xbox and Kinect, Microsoft's past is littered with failed attempts to conquer the consumer gadget marketplace, from clunky early tablets and wrist-watch computers to the Zune music player and Kin phone.
Gartner estimates that Microsoft sold fewer than 900,000 Surface tablets in the fourth quarter, a fraction of the 23 million iPads sold by Apple. Windows phones now account for 3 percent of the global smartphone market, Gartner says, far behind Google's Android with 70 percent and Apple with 21 percent.
The survey "definitely shows that Microsoft's efforts are paying off, but we'll have to see how cool translates into customers," said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. "It's also hard to compare 'cool' factor as a quantitative measure against Apple, a company, and Android, a platform."
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