Thanks to its first annual revenue decline since 2003, many people sure like to do the whole “sky is falling” routine when it comes to Apple.
Fortunately, it seems that brand consultancy Interbrand isn’t among them — since it just named Apple the world’s most valuable brand for an impressive fourth year in a row.
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Technology companies dominated the top spots in the ranking, with Google, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung and Amazon all taking spots in the Top 10. However, they weren’t doing enough to unseat Apple, which saw its valuation rise 5 percent to $178.1 billion in the past year.
In an accompanying report, Apple is praised for its impressively-constructed ecosystem, which remains relatively unique among top brands. Interbrand’s report notes that:
“Apple shows how ecosystems drive value. Analysts have often pointed out that ‘Apple has superior products.’ While true, this opinion undersells the brilliance of Apple’s functionally- integrated model. Its software, hardware, and touchpoints are connected not just by beautiful design aesthetics, but by a level of interoperability that justifies the Apple premium and discourages defections to another platform. And the more data you share, the more personal it becomes— adding new devices is painless and the thought of switching increasingly unpromising. Apple is the Alpha of Cohesiveness in full effect.”
But while Apple remains the most valuable brand, it did not make the list of top-growing brands in 2016 — despite this list being mainly dominated by tech companies including Facebook (48 percent growth), Amazon (33 percent), and Adobe (21 percent).
You can check out the rest of Interbrand’s report here.
