Apple named most valuable ‘billion dollar brand’ in the US

Apple Store (Fifth Avenue, exterior 001)

A new report was released yesterday by brand consulting agency Brand Finance, naming the top “billion dollar brands” in the United States. The list was compiled estimating the royalty rate that would be charged to use a company’s brand and combing that with expected future revenue.

Unsurprisingly, Apple was ranked number one by a long shot, with a value of $104.7 billion. The iPad-maker is the most valuable company in the world in terms of market cap, and has taken the top spot several times in other brand value lists. Google came in second place at $68.6 billion…

Here’s the breakdown of the top 10 most valuable companies via Brand Finance:

infographic

Behind Google is Microsoft in third place, Verizon in second and General Electric in third, valued at $62.8 billion, $53.5 billion and $52.5 billion respectively. Interestingly enough, tech companies accounted for 5 of the top 10 spots and the heavyweight Coca-Cola brand came in 10th place.

I didn’t think there were many surprises in the top 10, but I was taken aback by the placement of some other companies in Brand Finance’s full top 500 list (you can view the full list here). For example, Dell and Yahoo! didn’t make it into the top 50, and Facebook barely made the cut.

Obviously you can’t put too much stock in a single report like this, but the fact that Apple has also been named #1 in other reports must mean it’s doing something right.

What do you think, is Apple the most valuable brand in the US right now?