Apple and Google have topped the annual Interbrand Best Global Brand report for the third year in a row. In a technology-heavy top 10, Apple was ranked the world's most valuable brand with Google coming in second. Other high placing tech companies included Microsoft in fourth place, IBM at five, Samsung seventh, and Amazon taking the number 10 position. This left Coca-Cola as the only non-tech company in the top 5.
Interbrand, a brand consultancy, determines a company's valuation on the basis of its financial reports, a brand's ability to influence purchase decisions, customer loyalty, and the power to support premium pricing for its products and services. The list values Apple at $170.3 billion, up 43 percent from last year, while Google's valuation is estimated at $120.3 billion, up 12 percent.
Some notable tech names outside of the top 10 include Facebook at 23, which rose 54 percent to a valuation of $22 billion; Intel at 14, which increased in value by 4 percent to $35 billion; and Chinese Telecommunications company Huawei which jumped from 94th to 88th place with a 15% value bump, taking it to $5 billion. Two new entries on the report were Lenovo (100) and PayPal (97), while Nokia and Nintendo both dropped off the list.
"The Best Global Brands report examines what it takes for brands to succeed in today's hyper-fragmented world. As people demand immediate, personalized and tailored experiences, business and brands need to move at the speed of life," said Jez Frampton, Interbrand's Global Chief Executive Officer. "Many of the brands in this year's Top 100 are so intuitively aligned with people's priorities, that they are able to seamlessly integrate into their everyday lives."
Facebook was the company with the biggest valuation increase on this year's list. And although it may rank just outside of the top twenty, it's still the only social media platform to make it onto the report.