Apple replaces Google as the world’s most valuable brand

Apple Inc, which ignited the personal computing revolution with the iconic Mac and came up with its bestselling products, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, has overtaken Google as the world's most valuable brand, according to the latest BrandZ Top 100 ranking 2011.

Apple, which is now the world's second-largest company behind Exxon Mobil with a market cap of around $323.27 billion, saw its brand value increase by 84 per cent over the last 12 months, overthrowing Google, which has been rated as the world's most valuable brand for four consecutive years. (See: Apple tipped to topple Exxon Mobil as the world's most valuable company)

Riding on the growing popularity of its iPhone and the iPad, the Cupertino- (California) based technology giant's brand value increased to $153.5 billion while Google's brand value dropped by 2 per cent to $111.4 billion.

BrandZ Global Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands is developed by Millward Brown, a subsidiary of advertising company WPP Plc, whose ranking analyses the world's leading brands and the economic and competitive dynamics that influence value fluctuations. It focuses on consumer-facing brands, rather than corporate brands.

"From third place in 2010 with a valuation of $83.15 million, Apple's catapulting to the top spot is positive proof that investment in innovation, design and branding do pay off," said Nigel Hollis, executive vice president and chief global analyst at Millward Brown in the company's blog post.

He goes on to say that Apple was ranked 29th in 2006, but its value has grown 859 per cent since then, adding $137 billion in value. By comparison, Google ranked 7th in 2006, and has grown 298 per cent.

"It is really the iPad that has driven (Apple's growing brand value), although the iPhone has continued to do magnificently too, and the development of apps," said Peter Walshe, global director of the Brandz report.

In 2007, Apple entered the cell phones market with its iPhone, which has since become the new standard for smartphones. The company has successfully mastered the art of hype before launching a new version of the iPhone that makes consumers sit outside the stores a day before its launch.

Every new version of its iPhone has sold more that a million units in the first month of launch, a feat that is unparalleled in the technology industry.

Its newly launched iPad, the multi-media touch screen tablet, which was unveiled by Jobs in April 2010, sold upward of 300,000 units on the first day of the sale and 3 million in 80 days in the US market alone.

That development, according to analysts, comes on the back of one of the most stunning turnarounds in business history for Apple, which had been written-off at one time.

Among the top 10 brands, six are dominated by technology companies, Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, AT&T, and China Mobile along with McDonald, Coca-Cola, Marlboro and GE.