Apple Tops List of World’s Most Valuable Brands

Apple has jumped Google and is now the world’s most valuable brand, according to the latest rankings from a leading global branding agency.

Thanks in large part to the success of its iPhones and iPads, Apple saw its brand soar by 85 percent to $153 billion, according to the Millward Brown study of the top 100 most valuable global brands.

Google, which had sat atop the rankings for the past four years, didn’t fall very far. The value of its brand slipped 2 percent to $111 billion, good enough for No. 2 on the list.

Overall, tech and telecom companies made up more than half of the top 10 brands: IBM came in third, Microsoft fifth, AT&T seventh, and China Mobile ninth.

Amazon, meanwhile, eked out a close win over Wal-Mart for the title of the most-valuable retail brand, after the online seller’s brand was valued at $37.6 billion compared with the big box store’s $37.3 billion. The two companies placed 14^th and 15^th in the rankings.

Facebook posted the largest increase in brand value, which more than tripled to roughly $19 billion. The social networking giant earned the no. 35 spot.

According to Reuters, the rankings are based on the values the companies put on their own brands on their earnings reports, which are then combined with the results of consumer surveys conducted throughout year. Millward Brown then applies a multiple derived from the company’s short-term future growth prospects.

The Top 10:

1. Apple
2. Google
3. IBM
4. McDonald’s
5. Microsoft
6. Coca Cola
7. AT&T
8. Marlboro
9. China Mobile
10. GE