Apple dominates the ranking and breaks record with a value of US$ 206 billion
Sales of Apple’s iPhone have declined in recent quarters, particularly in China, where cheaper rivals Huawei and Xiaomi have gained traction.
The tech giant’s smartphone revenue has seen a 17% drop over the past three months to $31 billion, but shares have risen 5%.
The main reason for these results is record revenue from services, a division that includes the App Store, Apple Pay, iTunes and the cloud, among others. It is currently Apple’s second-largest segment after the iPhone, with revenue of $37 billion in 2018 and expected to reach $100 billion by 2023, according to Morgan Stanley.
The projected growth represents the power of the Apple brand.
The company founded by Steve Jobs tops Forbes’ annual list of the world’s most valuable brands for the ninth time. Its current valuation is $205.5 billion, up 12% from last year.
This is the first time a brand has crossed the $200 billion mark. Apple specializes in building loyalty and moving its customer base from one product category to another. Mac users embraced the iPod, followed by the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
Consumers trust the brand to perform flawlessly across all categories, which has helped make the Cupertino, California-based company the most valuable in the world.
The service sector is the next frontier for the company.
While Apple remains at the top, Google closes in on the lead with a value of $167.7 billion, up 23%. Four years ago, the company was worth less than half of Apple.
Google dominated the search engine market with a 92% share over the last 12 months, according to StatCounter (Bing has 2.6% and Yahoo 1.9%). Like Apple, the company has used its brand to move into other consumer categories, from email to web browsing to maps and cloud storage. While many brands struggle with changing customer habits, the biggest in tech remain “juggernauts” (powerful, ever-growing organizations).
Microsoft ($123.5 billion) and Amazon ($97 billion) round out the Top 4, both jumping over 20% in market cap.
One technology brand that has lost value over the last 12 months is Facebook, which occupies the 5th place in the ranking. It was the only one in the Top 10 to suffer devaluation, totaling US$ 88.9 billion, 6% less than last year. This year, the number of active users of the social network reached 2.4 billion, but it has been undermined by concerns about data protection, privacy policies and fake news. In 6th place, Coca-Cola is the most valuable brand on the list outside of technology, with a value of $59.2 billion, up 3% compared to 2018.
Most valuable brands in the world: the marks in numbers
Together, the top 100 brands are worth a total of $2.33 trillion, 8% more than last year.
Tech companies gained most in value, led by e-commerce giant Amazon, which rose 37% to reach $97 billion. Other companies that had a profitable year were Netflix (+34%), Google (+27%) and Adobe (+27%).
H&M posted the biggest drop, down 12% to $11.5 billion. Last year, the Swedish retailer slashed clothing prices to address overstocking.
Another 20 brands lost value, including ESPN (-10%), GE (-8%) and Hyundai (-8%). North
See below the 50 most valuable brands in the world in 2019:
1. Apple
Value: $205.5 billion
Change in one year: 12%
Revenue: $265.8 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Technology
2. Google
Value: $167.7 billion
Change in one year: 27%
Revenue: $136.2 billion
Advertising spend: $6.4 billion
Industry: Technology
3. Microsoft
Value: $125.3 billion
Variation in one year: 20%
Revenue: $110.2 billion
Advertising spend: $1.6 billion
Industry: Technology
4. Amazon
Value: $97 billion
Change in one year: 37%
Revenue: $211.4 billion
Advertising spend: $8.2 billion
Industry: Technology
5. Facebook
Value: $88.9 billion
Change in one year: – 6%
Revenue: $48.8 billion
Advertising spend: $1.1 billion
Industry: Technology
6. Coke
Value: $59.2 billion
Change in one year: 3%
Revenue: $23.8 billion
Advertising spend: $4.1 billion
Industry: Beverages
7. Samsung
Value: $53.1 billion
Change in one year: 11%
Revenue: $221.6 billion
Advertising spend: $3.6 billion
Industry: Technology
8. Disney
Value: $52.2 billion
Variation in one year: 10%
Revenue: $33.8 billion
Advertising spend: $2.8 billion
Industry: Leisure
9. Toyota
Value: $44.6 billion
Variation in one year: 0%
Revenue: $190.8 billion
Advertising spend: $4.6 billion
Automotive industry
10. McDonald’s
Value: $43.8 billion
Variation in one year: 6%
Revenue: $96.1 billion
Advertising spend: $389 million
Industry: Restaurants
11. AT&T
Value: $41.3 billion
Change in one year: -1%
Revenue: $170.8 billion
Advertising spend: $5.1 billion
Industry: Telecommunications
12. Louis Vuitton
Value: $39.3 billion
Change in one year: 17%
Revenue: $15.5 billion
Advertising spend: $6.5 billion
Industry: Luxury goods
13. Intel
Value: $38.8 billion
Change in one year: 14%
Revenue: $70.8 billion
Advertising spend: $1.2 billion
Industry: Technology
14. Nike
Value: $36.8 billion
Variation in one year: 15%
Revenue: $36.7 billion
Advertising spend: $3.6 billion
Industry: Apparel
15. Cisco
Value: $34.5 billion
Change in one year: 7%
Revenue: $49.3 billion
Advertising spend: $166 million
Industry: Technology
16. GE
Value: $34.3 billion
Change in one year: – 8%
Revenue: $98.8 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Diversified
17. Mercedes-Benz
Value: $33.2 billion
Change in one year: – 3%
Revenue: $125.9 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Automotive industry
18. Oracle
Value: $32.2 billion
Change in one year: 4%
Revenue: $39.6 billion
Advertising spend: $138.8 million
Industry: Technology
19. Verizon
Value: $31.7 billion
Change in one year: 1%
Revenue: $130.9 billion
Advertising spend: $2.7 billion
Industry: Telecommunications
20. IBM
Value: $31.5 billion
Change in one year: – 2%
Revenue: $79.6 billion
Advertising spend: $1.5 billion
Industry: Technology
21. BMW
Value: $29.8 billion
Variation in one year: -5%
Revenue: $91.5 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Automotive industry
22. SAP
Value: $28.7 billion
Variation in one year: 10%
Revenue: $29.1 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Technology
23. Marlboro
Value: $28.5 billion
Change in one year: 7%
Revenue: $25.1 billion
Advertising spend: $933 million
Industry: Tobacco
24. Budweiser
Value: $27.2 billion
Variation in one year: 6%
Revenue: $12 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Beverages
25. Visa
Value: $26.9 billion
Variation in one year: 10%
Revenue: $20.6 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Financial services
26. Walmart
Value: $26.3 billion
Variation in one year: 6%
Revenue: $348.5 billion
Advertising spend: $3.5 billion
Industry: Retail
27. American Express
Value: $26 billion
Change in one year: 13%
Revenue: $43.3 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Financial services
28. Honda
Value: $25.8 billion
Change in one year: 1%
Revenue: $134.9 billion
Advertising: –
Automotive industry
29. Pepsi
Value: $18.8 billion
Variation in one year: 2%
Revenue: $9.5 billion
Advertising spend: $2.6 billion
Industry: Beverages
30. Gucci
Value: $18.6 billion
Change in one year: 24%
Revenue: $9.8 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Luxury goods
31. L’Oréal
Value: $18.5 billion
Change in one year: 8%
Revenue: $10.9 billion
Advertising/Ad spend: $9.6 billion
Industry: Cosmetics
32. Home Depot
Value: $18.1 billion
Change in one year: 11%Revenue: $108.2 billion
Advertising spend: $921 million
Industry: Retail
33. Hermès
Value: $18.1 billion
Change in one year: 18%
Revenue: $7 billion
Advertising spend: $352 million
Industry: Luxury goods
34. Nescafe
Value: $17.9 billion
Change in one year: 4%
Revenue: $9.5 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Beverages
35. Starbucks
Value: $17 billion
Variation in one year: 5%
Revenue: $24.7 billion
Advertising spend: $260 million
Industry: Restaurants
36. Accenture
Value: $16.6 billion
Change in one year: 12%
Revenue: $42.5 billion
Advertising spend: $78 million
Industry: Consulting
37. Gillette
Value: $16.6 billion
Change in one year: – 3%
Revenue: $6.6 billion
Advertising spend: $7.1 billion
Industry: Personal care products
38. Netflix
Value: $15.5 billion
Change in one year: 34%
Revenue: $15.8 billion
Advertising spend: $1.8 billion
Industry: Technology
39. IKEA
Value: $15.3 billion
Variation in one year: 6%
Revenue: $45.8 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Retail
40. Frito-Lay
Value: $14.7 billion
Variation in one year: 2%
Revenue: $11.7 billion
Advertising spend: $2.6 billion
Industry: Consumer packaged goods
41. Audi
Value: $14.2 billion
Change in one year: – 4%
Revenue: $61.9 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Automotive industry
42. Wells Fargo
Value: $14 billion
Change in one year: 3%
Revenue: $101.1 billion
Advertising spend: $857 million
Industry: Financial services
43. Mastercard
Value: $14 billion
Change in one year: 13%
Revenue: $15 billion
Advertising spends: $907 million
Industry: Financial services
44. Siemens
Value: $13.8 billion
Change in one year: 8%
Revenue: $97.9 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Diversified
45. CVS
Value: $13.7 billion
Change in one year: 4%
Revenue: $194.6 billion
Advertising spend: $364 million
Industry: Retail
46. Zara
Value: $13.5 billion
Change in one year: 3%
Revenue: $21.3 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Retail
47. ESPN
Value: $13.1 billion
Change in one year: – 10%
Revenue: $11.2 billion
Advertising spend: $2.8 billion
Industry: Media
48. Ford
Value: $13 billion
Change in one year: – 8%
Revenue: $152.7 billion
Advertising spend: $4 billion
Automotive industry
49. HSBC
Value: $12.8 billion
Change in one year: 7%
Revenue: $82.7 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Financial services
50. Nestlé
Value: $12.6 billion
Change in one year: 7%
Revenue: $8.3 billion
Investment in advertising: –
Industry: Consumer packaged goods