Much is made of the Apple ‘halo’ which helps sell products based just on brand. However, brand consultants Interbrand Thursday put a value on the halo: $13.7 billion.
Although Microsoft again beat Apple in most valuable brand ($59 billion), the Cupertino, Calif. company had a 24 percent jump in brand value — second only to Internet giant Google.
Apple’s position rose to 24th place compared to 33rd in 2007, according to the ranking of global brands.
“The latest iPods, iPhone and MacBook Air strike the perfect balance between coolness and mass appeal,” Interbrand said in its report.
The consultancy cites Steve Jobs coming aboard as CEO as another reason for the brand’s rise in value.
Software giant Microsoft may have reasons to look over its shoulder. Although its brand value is steady, its ratings are falling.
The Redmond, Wash. company ranked in third place this year, down from its second-place showing in 2007. Rival Google, on the other hand, turned in the largest gain in brand value, leaping from to 10th position from 20th last year.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
2 responses to “Apple Brand Worth $13.7B”
Ironically, that’s also the size of the universe in light-years. Coincidence?