Apple's old-school Lisa model

IBM retained No.1 status on the CoreBrand 2007 "Computers, Peripherals and Computer Software Industries Brand Power" list, and No. 18 on the overall Corporate Branding Index of 1,200 companies, according to CoreBrand CEO James Gregory, MarketingCharts reports.

(The top 2 positions in the annual CoreBrand Corporate Branding Index were taken (PDF) by the Coca-Cola Company and Johnson & Johnson, which have remained at the top since 2004.)

Microsoft, second in the computer category, declined dramatically in overall corporate rankings, dropping from No. 12 in 2004 to No. 59 in 2007. In contrast, No. 3 Toshiba's brand stature grew from No. 105 overall in 2004 to No. 71 in 2007.

Toshiba is poised to surpass Microsoft if trends continue, Gregory said.

Apple Computer moved up one spot to 4th place in the computer category and improved from No. 131 overall in 2006 to No. 119 in 2007.

Fifth-place Hewlett-Packard's overall rank has declined from No. 51 in 2004 to No. 96 in 2006 and No. 122 in 2007. The downward trend has been concurrent with the battle over the Compaq acquisition and the change in company leadership, according to Gregory.

HP's rival Dell Computer, at No. 6 in the category, has rebounded a bit, after having revised its positioning; it's overall rank of No. 133 is up from No. 141 in 2006 (it was No. 106 in 2004).