Global Brands
Google has been picked out as the company with the highest brand value in the world on this year’s Global Top 100 Brand list of the Financial Times. Samsung Electronics took 29th place as the only Korean company on the list.
According to the Financial Times, Google’s brand value for this year totals US$158.843 billion, 40 percent higher when compared to the US$113.669 billion recorded last year. Meanwhile, Apple, which retained the top spot from 2010 to 2013, ranked second this year as its brand value declined by 20 percent to US$147.88 billion. “This is because Google provides particularly meaningful services for its customers, whereas Apple is in the face of severe competition from rivals such as Samsung Electronics,” the Financial Times explained.
Samsung Electronics’ brand value showed a 21 percent growth from a year earlier to US$25.892 billion. “Consumers think of Samsung Electronics as a company providing good products at reasonable prices, as shown in the Galaxy series smart phones, and they have trust in the brand of Samsung,” the report added.
It is IT companies that distinguished themselves in this year’s survey, examples of which include Facebook, Amazon, and Tencent. Tencent jumped from 21st to 14th with its brand value increasing 97 percent, and Facebook climbed as many as 10 notches to 21st by recording US$35.325 billion in brand value, 68 percent up from the preceding year. Twitter (71st), LinkedIn (78th) and PayPal (97th) joined the ranks of the top 100 for the first time.
In the meantime, many Chinese corporations slid down this time, implying the slowdown of the Chinese economy. China Mobile fell from 10th to 15th, while China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China fell 11 and 17 notches to 33rd and 54th, respectively.