#1 Apple
Brand value: $104.3 billion
1-year change: 20 percent
With a brand value of nearly twice as much as any other company on the planet, Apple is undoubtedly the most valuable brand in the world. Even though the company’s latest products are not as revolutionary as they were a few years back, it still sold 33.8 million iPhones in its latest quarter. In addition to that the company sold 14.1 million iPads and 4.6 million Macs, and roughly 30 billion songs have been sold on iTunes since its launch in 2003.
#2 Microsoft
Brand value: $56.7 billion
1-year change: 4 percent
Facing stiff competition from Google and Apple, Microsoft is yet to make an impact in the mobile industry. This has done nothing to increase the company’s brand value and so it has been flat over the last three years. But fortunately for Microsoft, it is still doing well in the PC segment and is one of the most profitable brands in the world with operating margins of 34 percent in the last financial year. The software giant’s $2.6 billion ad campaign is one of the biggest in the tech world.
#3 IBM
Brand value: $50.7 billion
1-year change: 5 percent
IBM had its fair share of hard times in the 1990s, but it has since then reinvented itself and has emerged as a powerful name in the tech world as a software and services giant. The company has racked up the most U.S. patents for 20 years straight.
#4 Google
Brand value: $47.3 billion
1-year change: 26 percent
Google, benefitting from its diversified range of Internet services and products generated more than $13 billion in the year 2012, before interest and taxes. The search giant generates revenue primarily from AdWords, an online advertising service. With Google Search being the most widely used search engine in the World Wide Web, it does everything to help add more revenue.
#5 General Electric
Brand value: $34.2 billion
1-year change: 2 percent
GE has been experiencing slow growth in recent years, but with its order backlog hitting a record $229 billion in the third quarter, U.S. orders rose by 18 percent. And despite the weak economy, they were up to 17 percent in Europe. The company, taking advantage of its role as an Olympic sponsor, generated $700 million in sales from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
