Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) revived iPhone sales to post a healthy $18 billion profit, last quarter, and reclaim its former glory as the number-one smartphone producer in the world. The stunning performance comes after a previous series of discouraging financial reports that caused chagrin among analysts and investors alike. Despite the good quarterly news for Apple, however, a new Brand Finance report shows that the brand has yielded its position as the world’s most-valuable brand to another corporate giant, Google.
Despite its recent good quarterly report, Apple’s monetary value has fallen from $145.9 billion in 2015 to $107.1 billion this year. During the same one-year period, Google’s monetary value soared to $109.5 billion, a 24-percent increase. As a result, Google snagged the title as the world’s most valuable brand and holds it by a margin of more than $2 billion. According to the Brand Finance study, Apple has been unable to maintain its leadership in technology and has been slow to bring innovation into the marketplace.
Factors that affect the declining value of the Apple brand include a depletion of consumer goodwill that has kept Apple afloat during a prolonged period of tepid performance. Authors of the study conclude that the company’s failure to capitalize on the Apple Watch is illustrative of the lack of innovation that now characterizes one of the world’s most successful brands. From the Brand Finance perspective, Apple’s product pipeline offers little to technology-hungry customers.
Like Apple, Google’s parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), just finished an impressive quarter. Meanwhile, the strength of the Google brand has increased, helping it to attract and retain customers for all of its business units. The same Brand Finance report also suggests that Google’s dominant search engine helps finance innovation in other technologies and product lines. As a result, consumers willingly pay premium prices for products that carry the Google brand.
Despite Google’s advantages in pricing and innovation, Apple most likely will remain in contention for the top spot in next year’s Brand Finance evaluation. Motivated by one of its healthiest ever financial reports, Apple might find the strength and creativity needed to produce new products and features that will recapture the hearts of consumers worldwide. Also, Google’s ascension to the number-one position primarily was caused by Apple’s weakness. Meanwhile, other large corporations may challenge both Google and Apple during the course of the year.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), a well-known global player, ranks third in monetary value and lags behind Google by just a few billion dollars. The e-commerce giant continues to revolutionize the consumer experience by streamlining supply chains, developing new delivery methods and providing excellent customer service. Also, Amazon’s web services and video streaming businesses continue to grow, giving the company enough depth and stability to challenge both Apple and Google.
Brand Finance evaluated the monetary value of five hundred brands as part of its study and reflects a healthy mix of new and mature brands. AT&T (NYSE:T), an almost universally recognized brand for decades, claimed the number-four spot with a value of $87 billion. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), the global software brand, was valued at $76.3 billion and was ranked fifth on the list. The remainder of the top ten most valuable brands on the list included Samsung (KS:005930), Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and ICBC (HK:1398) rounded out the top ten brands in their respective order.