At nearly $146 billion, Apple, Inc., has been named the world’s most valuable portfolio by Brand Finance for the second year in a row.
Each year, the business valuation and strategy consultancy evaluates thousands of the world’s top brands to determine which is the most valuable by country, industry and how they compare to other brands.
Despite only having one brand included in the study, Apple, Inc. holds the top spot and its value grew 14 percent since 2015 while they were at it. Coming in second is Alphabet, Inc., the holding company for Google—demonstrating the current power of technology and communications brands in the world today. With 17 brands and an estimated value of $99 billion, Alphabet Inc. experienced higher growth than Apple, at an impressive 25 percent over last year. Samsung Group dropped one spot to number three with a value of $83 billion, making the US and South Korea the most valuable tech and communication brands in the world, according to the study. At 539, Nestlé Sa’s portfolio has the most number of brands, valued at $66.6 billion. The company climbed to seventh place after 14 percent growth.
“Accelerated growth [for Nestlé Sa] in North America was largely due to the turnaround in frozen meals,” Brand Finance explained in a statement. “Whilst in Latin America, Nestlé cited instant coffee as the core reason for growth. Nestlé’s category dynamics and innovation, which can be seen in its range of bottled water, are also factors that contributed to its strong growth. Furthermore, an increase in health awareness in relation to carbonated drinks gave Nestlé the opportunity to promote its bottled water segment which other companies may have failed to embrace. Nestlé’s success is largely due to the range of product segments it provides, allowing it to more effectively overcome challenging global trends than its competitors.”
Toyota Motor Corp, valued at $55.2 billion, climbed six spots to number 10 and experienced the fastest growth at 30 percent compared to 2015. The fastest-falling portfolio of brands was Volkswagen Ag, whose value dropped 36 percent and 17 spots to $42.2 billion. Brand Finance attributes this sudden decrease to “the latest emissions scandal,” but forecasts overall growth in the light vehicle industry, particularly in China, India and across continental Western Europe.
The total value of the table is $3.2 trillion, and half of the top brands hail from the United States—44 US companies with a combined value of $1.68 trillion. Fourteen Chinese companies also made the list, rendering it the country with the second-highest number of portfolios. They make up $347 billion of the total sum. Nine European Union countries are also listed, with a total of 29 brands, nine of which are UK-based—more than any other European country.