Apple has overtaken Amazon to become the most valuable brand in the world for the first time in five years, according to a global report.
The value of the technology giant’s brand has risen 87% to $ 263.4 billion in the past year, the Brand Finance Global 500 2021 index found. The increase was due to Apple’s diversification strategy, which will allow the company to expand into digital and subscriber services in the future and possibly also to electric cars, said brand advisory firm Brand Finance in London.
Apple AAPL,
became the first US company to reach a market capitalization of $ 2 billion in August last year. It is also expected that its largest quarterly revenue ever and its first total ever will be above $ 100 billion if it reports its earnings on Wednesday.
“As Apple regains the title of Amazon’s most valuable brand in the world, five years since it last took first place, we are witnessing it again. From Mac to iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, subscription services, Infinity and beyond, ”said David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance.
Amazon’s AMZN,
the trade value grew by 15% to $ 254.2 billion, in a year that the e-commerce giant benefited from stay-at-home orders around the world and rising demand. The company has also been innovating and expanding over the past few months, launching an online pharmacy store as well as the Halo Fitness Tracking. Earlier this month, Amazon bought its first fleet of aircraft from Delta and WestJet to expand its air cargo network. However, the company lost its first place to Apple.
Technical giant Google GOOG,
has the third highest trading value, which is 1.4% higher to $ 191.2 billion, while competitor Microsoft MSFT,
remained in fourth place with a trade value of $ 140.4 billion, an increase of 20%, and the conglomerate Samsung 005930,
retained fifth place. Retailer Walmart WMT,
jumped two places to sixth, while social media company Facebook FB,
remained in the seventh.
In a year dominated by COVID-19, technology and innovation helped drive the value of the world’s largest brands, with the ride Uber UBER,
and Chinese e-commerce platform Meituan 3690,
enjoys strong growth.
But Tesla TSLA,
was the world’s fastest growing brand last year, rising 158% to $ 32 billion. Brand Finance said that record numbers, an increase in production and expansion into new markets, helped increase the brand of electric car manufacturer.
Some sectors performed well, but others had a difficult year. Airline and aviation brands were responsible for six of the ten fastest declining brands: Boeing BA,
American Airlines AAL,
United Airlines UAL,
Delta DAL,
Airbus AIR,
and Safran SAF,
Hotels also experienced a difficult 2020 due to travel restrictions and lock-in measures, with Hilton’s HLT,
brand value drops by 30% to $ 7.6 billion, while Marriott MAR,
dropped out of the top 500 with Airbnb ABNB,
Read: What will happen to airline tickets in 2021?
According to the consulting firm, the value of a brand is the economic benefit it would gain if it were licensed in the open market.
The combined value of the 21 UK brands among the top 500 in the world fell by 11% year-on-year, making it the country with the worst performance, as the Brexit uncertainty and the COVID-19 pandemic economy. Major Major Royal Dutch Shell RDSA,
retained its place as the UK’s most valuable brand, but fell by 11% to $ 42.2 billion, while second rival BP BP,
decreased by 8% to $ 21.4 billion.
“As the vaccine expands, it will be interesting to see which UK brands thrive and which will plunder as they navigate a future outside the European Union,” Haigh said.
The index also contains brand strength, which is calculated as the efficiency of a brand’s performance compared to its peers.
The Chinese phone WeChat replaces the car manufacturer Ferrari RACE,
as the strongest brand in the world. WeChat has managed several government health applications to keep people on track and in quarantine, thus giving access to data on COVID-19 and online consultations and self-diagnosis services.