Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) sat atop a new list of the world’s most valuable brands. However, rival Samsung’s value surged as it gained on and then took the lead over Apple in the smartphone industry. The list from brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance had among its top 10 brands ones that have become mainstays on brand value lists.

Apple’s brand value reached $104.7 billion, which was up 20% from the previous year. Samsung’s value trailed at $78.8 billion, but that value rose 34%. Brand Finance analysts commented:

Apple’s dominance is being challenged by Samsung however. The Korean giant’s improving reputation for reliability, a faster pace of innovation and wider range of devices are among many factors that have seen its brand value increase by US$20 billion to US$79 billion this year.

Third on the list was Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) with a brand value of $68.6 billion, up 32%. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was fourth at $62.8%, up 38%. Fifth on the list was Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which posted the top percentage gain among the top 10, up 74% to $53.5 billion. Sixth was General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) at $52.5 billion, up 41%. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was in seventh place, up 49% to $45.4 billion. Eighth place was taken by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), up 23% to $45.1 billion. Ninth was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), up 6% to $44.8 billion. And tenth was International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), which rose 10% to $41.5 billion.

Among the metrics used to measure Brand Finance’s Brand Strength Index were “desirability, loyalty and consumer sentiment to visual identity, online presence and employee satisfaction.”

The survey also showed:

US brands continue to dominate the Brand Finance’s list, occupying 185 brands of the 500 spots. Japan is second. Despite Japanese brands having dropped out of the table, the total for the country as a whole is up thanks to brand value increases of over 30% from Japan’s three biggest brands; Toyota, Mitsubishi and Honda. President Shinzo Abe’s ‘Abenomics’ programme has begun to pay off and global demand for Japanese goods is improving. Germany, France and the UK complete the top 5. Despite China’s status as the world’s second biggest economy, it is 6th in terms of total brand value as its brands are still developing. Huawei and Baidu have both increased their brand values by over 50%. While controversial for their close associations with the Chinese government, both are likely to exert increasing influence around the world in the next few years.

Banks were at the top of brand value by industry at $633 billion, followed by technology at $614 billion.

The top 20:

Rank 2014	Rank 2013	Brand	Country	Brand Value 2014 (USD bn)	Brand Rating 2014	Brand Value Change (USD bn)	Brand Value Change (%)	Brand Value 2013 (USD bn)	Brand Rating 2013
1	1	Apple	US	104.68	AAA	17.38	20%	87.30	AAA
2	2	Samsung	South Korea	78.75	AAA	19.98	34%	58.77	AAA
3	3	Google	US	68.62	AAA+	16.49	32%	52.13	AAA+
4	4	Microsoft	US	62.78	AAA	17.25	38%	45.53	AAA-
5	10	Verizon	US	53.47	AAA-	22.74	74%	30.73	AA+
6	7	General Electric	US	52.53	AA+	15.37	41%	37.16	AA
7	11	AT&T	US	45.41	AA	15.00	49%	30.41	AA+
8	8	Amazon	US	45.15	AAA-	8.36	23%	36.79	AAA-
9	5	Walmart	US	44.78	AA+	2.48	6%	42.30	AA+
10	6	IBM	US	41.51	AA+	3.79	10%	37.72	AA+
11	15	Toyota	Japan	34.90	AAA-	8.92	34%	25.98	AA+
12	9	Coca Cola	US	33.72	AAA+	-0.48	-1%	34.20	AAA+
13	20	China Mobile	Hong Kong	31.84	AA+	8.55	37%	23.30	AA
14	n/a	T	Germany	30.61	AA	9.06	42%	21.54	AA+
15	14	Wells Fargo	US	30.24	AAA-	4.20	16%	26.04	AA+
16	13	Vodafone	UK	29.61	AAA-	2.60	10%	27.01	AAA
17	21	BMW	Germany	28.96	AAA	5.73	25%	23.24	AAA
18	12	Shell	Netherlands	28.57	AA+	-1.18	-4%	29.75	AAA-
19	17	Volkswagen	Germany	27.06	AAA-	3.40	14%	23.67	AAA-
20	22	HSBC	UK	26.87	AAA	4.01	18%	22.86	AAA-

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