NICHOLAS CHRISTIAN

IT IS the gadget that no fashion-conscious bright young thing can afford to be seen without.

But two years after Britain fell in love with the iPod there are signs that the pocket-sized box that transformed the way millions listen to music is beginning to lose its shine.

Internet chatrooms are carrying accounts of ``unreliable machines``, while questions are being asked about working conditions in the Chinese factories where they are made.

The ``very significant`` fall in public confidence is highlighted in new figures from YouGov`s brand awareness index, which show a steady fall in the popularity of the Apple brand.

More than 50 million have been sold since its launch in 2001, and the company insists that the quality of its products is not an issue, with the iPod remaining the most popular portable music player.

However, Apple`s share price fell to an eight-month low last week after an analyst predicted that the launch of several new models would be delayed.

Sundip Chahal, of YouGov`s BrandIndex team, said: ``The overall brand index is showing a definite downward trend up to the beginning of April. The index for quality is going down - from a rating in the high 30s in October to the mid 20s, which is a very significant drop.``

The gadget`s fall in popularity could be linked to bad publicity. Shortly after the launch of its iPod Nano last year, Apple admitted that some models had faulty screens that scratched too easily.

There have also been complaints on Apple`s internet chatroom about the iPod Shuffle, its smallest and only music player without a screen.

YouGov claims that the decline in the brand`s reputation may be a consequence of the company`s early dominance in the MP3 player market.

``Apple used to stand for corporate reputation and quality, and people were prepared to pay more because they got it back in quality,`` Chahal said.

However, Apple denies that it has a problem with quality. Greg Joswiak, vice-president of iPod marketing, said the company had a first-year failure rate of 5%.

He said: ``A lot of products don`t enjoy such a low failure rate - mobile phones can be up to 30%. The vast majority of customers are extremely happy and have never experienced a failure.

``Most problems are caused by mishandling. They are complex electronic components and they can be broken if dropped or mishandled.``