Apple has once again been named Fortune’s “most admired” company. Having won for the past seven years in a row — and then proceeded to shatter its own records throughout 2014 — it’s no surprise that Cupertino would take the no. 1 spot, but it’s yet another reminder of Apple’s current sustained dominance.
Google, meanwhile, increased its position by one place, versus last year, to take the no. 2 spot, while Amazon fell back a couple of places to no. 4. Microsoft, IBM and Facebook all failed to make the top 10.
Fortune gave Apple its top marks for innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment value, quality of products and services, and overall global competitiveness. Doesn’t really leave much to be improved for next year’s rankings, does it?
“Apple holds the top spot for the eighth year in a row,” Fortune writes. “In February, it became the first company to hit more than $700 billion in market value. As tech devotees await the launch of the Apple Watch in April, record smartphone sales were announced in January — 74.5 million phones in final three months of 2014– proving that the iPhone is still the product to beat.”
You can check out the rest of the list here. In the past six months, Apple has also be named the world’s coolest brand (beating Aston Martin), the world’s most valuable brand (beating Coca-Cola), and China’s most popular mobile brand (beating Samsung).
Stop it, guys, the Apple executive team is blushing! Next you’ll be saying Cook is one of the world’s most admired people. Oh, wait: you did that already.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Fortune: We love you more than ever, Apple”
Not too shabby a result from the company repeatedly called “beleaguered” in the 90’s. I appreciate Apple’s consistently high-quality products. Between work and home I have a Mac Pro, 3 iMacs, a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 6. Still don’t own an iPad, but I may remedy that this year. VWD Apple for becoming the most valuable company the world has ever seen. Us long time Mac users always knew you could do it.