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Amazon AMZN, -0.05% has beaten Google GOOG, +0.53%, Apple AAPL, +0.37% and Microsoft MSFT, +0.24%, to become the world’s most valuable brand, according to a global report.
The value of the e-commerce giant’s brand has soared 17.5% to a record $220.8 billion – the first brand to top $200 billion – the Brand Finance Global 500 index found. Google, which comes second, also climbed in value, while third-placed Apple and fourth-placed Microsoft saw their brand values dip.
Samsung 005930, +1.47% ranked fifth on the list, while three Chinese brands – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China 1398, +1.24% , Huawei and insurer Ping An made it into the top ten, alongside Facebook FB, +0.37% and Walmart WMT, +0.52% .
“The disrupter of the entire retail ecosystem, the brand that boasts the highest brand value ever, Amazon continues to impress across imperishable consumer truths: value, convenience and choice,” Brand Finance chief executive David Haigh said.
In contrast to its online retail rival, eBay’s EBAY, +0.24% brand value fell 9% to $8.2 billion over the year, while brick-and-mortar retailers Walmart, Aldi and Lidl saw their values surge.
“Despite the unprecedented disruption caused by e-commerce, the popular assertion that entering digital operations brings instant success while bricks and mortar stores are doomed for extinction is being proved wrong,” Haigh said.
Chinese software giant Baidu BIDU, -0.64% , which reported its first quarterly loss this year since listing in 2005, recorded the sharpest drop in value, falling 54% to $8.9 billion. Ride hailing giant Uber UBER, +0.23% was also among the fastest fallers after its disappointing IPO, dropping 32% to $15.3 billion. Tesla TSLA, +6.22% was the fastest-growing brand, jumping 65% to $12.4 billion in a year that has seen the electric car company expand into China.
Saudi Aramco 2222, -0.14% was the most valuable new entrant, placing 24th with a value of $46.8 billion following its blockbuster IPO at the end of 2019. However the Saudi state-owned oil giant still ranks below Shell RDSA, -0.70% – Britain’s most valuable brand.
A brand’s value is the economic benefit it would achieve if it was licences in the open market, according to the consultancy. The index also includes brand strength, which is calculated as the efficacy of a brand’s performance relative to its peers.
Ferrari RACE, -0.07% was the world’s strongest brand, followed by Disney DIS, +0.20% and Chinese messaging service WeChat, owned by tech giant Tencent 700, +1.45% .
