For the first time in five years, Apple ranked first place of the most valuable brands in the world, according to the Brand Finance Global 500 report published in 2021.
Experts estimated the company's brand value at $263,4 billion - its value increased by 87% in the past year.
The leader of the previous three years, online retailer Amazon came in second place this time. The company's brand value is $254,2 billion, up 15% from last year's rating.
In the 2021 ranking, Google dropped to third place. The company's brand value grew by only 1% to $191,2 billion.
As in the previous year, the top 5 also included Microsoft ($140,4 billion) and Samsung ($102,6 billion).
Tesla became the fastest growing brand in the ranking. Over the year, Elon Musk's company estimate rose by 158% - to $32 billion.
The top ten most expensive brands also include:
- The large offline retailer Wallmart.
- Facebook.
- The largest Chinese commercial bank ICBC.
- The American telecommunications company Verizon.
- The Chinese social network WeChat.
Despite only ranking 10th in the ranking of the most valuable brands, WeChat has overtaken Ferrari to become the strongest brand in the world with the highest score of 95,4 out of 100 and the AAA + brand strength rating.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the digital segment has grown significantly in the media sector. Netflix increased its subscriber base to 220 million, resulting in brand value-added 9% to $24,9 billion. Also, music streaming service Spotify entered the Brand Finance rating for the first time (up 39% to $5,6 billion) and game developer Electronic Arts (up 14% to $ 4,4 billion).