Amazon has been dethroned by Apple as the world’s most valuable brand.
The rise of artificial intelligence also sees Microsoft and Google leapfrog the eCommerce heavyweight, according to the latest annual report from TradingPedia. The research estimates the value of a brand, taking into account the expected financial returns over its useful life, discounted for market uncertainty and specific asset risks.
TradingPedia said the report shows that tech companies, in particular, significantly increased their brand value in 2024. Apple, Microsoft and Google all heavily invested in new products such as AI.
Events such as generative AI entering the mainstream had a widespread impact on some sectors. Brands continued to put greater emphasis on sustainability, diversity, and gender equality, which in turn helped improve their public image and brand value, according to the report.
American iPhone maker Apple saw its brand value jump by 73.6% from 2023 to $516.58 billion in 2024.
This represents a significant 73.6% increase from the previous year, when its value was $297.51 billion.
Microsoft ranks second with a brand value of $340.44 billion. The PC maker, which also recently unveiled its first custom AI chip for the Azure platform, the Maia 100 AI Accelerator, saw its brand value rise by 77.7% from 2023.
Google takes third position, with a brand valued at $333.44 billion, up 18.5% from 2023.
Although Amazon saw its brand valued at $308.9 billion in 2024, up 3.2% from 2023, it was outpaced by Apple, Microsoft, and Google. It is now the fourth most valuable tech brand in the world.
American brands comprise 52.76% of the world’s 500 largest brands, 52% of the top 100, and 60% of the world’s 10 most valuable brands.
The leading brands in Europe are Germany’s Deutsche Telekom with $73.321 billion, and Mercedes-Benz with $59.436 billion, the UK’s oil giant Shell with $50.302 billion, French fashion company Louis Vuitton with $32.235 billion, Spanish bank Santander with $18.908 billion, and Italy’s #1 Gucci with $14.864 billion.
Technology brands account for 17.04% of the total brand value among the top 500 companies, while retail brands contribute 11.75%.