Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been toppled by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to become the most valuable brand in 2014 according to the BrandZ Top 100 Global ranking. Apple slipped to second after dominating the top slot for three straight years. Google moved into the top spot by growing 40% from last year and now has a brand value of $159 billion.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s brand value dropped 20% to $148 billion, while rival Samsung’s surged 21% to $25.9 billion.
Apple product more evolutionary than revolutionary
The study of the most valuable global brands by the BrandZ Top 100 is commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor. Oscar Yuan, VP at Millward Brown Optimor, said that it is a story about two gigantic tech entities.
Optimor added that groundbreaking products of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are acknowledged around the world, but recently the developments have been more evolutionary rather than revolutionary. According to Yuan, this might be one reason for the decline in the value for Apple.
Yuan also said, “Google has been doing just the opposite—they’ve been organizing the world’s information and putting it at your fingertips.” GoogleX, the research wing of the internet giant is offering users internet connectivity with the help of satellites attached to balloons over the earth. He said that such innovation add massively to the value of the brand and it is “seen as a making-dreams-come-true-type company.”
Google hogged the limelight last year by developing Google Glass, which combined the apparel and technology worlds into a beautiful, inovative product. Yuan also said that Google is making an effort to offer consumers and the business world products they have never seen and things that were beyond imagination. This innovation reflects in the company’s brand value.
Other firms on the list
IBM bagged the third spot with a brand value of $108 billion, and Amazon topped the retail sector as the most valuable retail brand for the second straight year. Overall, Amazon is the 10th most valuable brand with brand value $64 billion up 41%.
Wal-Mart’s brand value dropped 2%, but the giant retailer retains the number 2 spot in the retail category with a brand value of $35 billion. Facebook surged 68% with a brand value of $35.7 billion, whereas Twitter and LinkedIn took spots in the top 100 brands for the first time at No. 71 and No. 78, with brand value of $14 billion $12 billion respectively.
