TAIPEI — Apple Inc. has overtaken Google Inc. to become the world’s most valuable brand, WPP said yesterday.
Apple’s brand value has climbed 84 percent in the past year to $153.3 billion, WPP’s Millward Brown unit said. Google’s brand lost 2 percent to $111.5 billion, ending four years atop the rankings.
IBM Corp. climbed 17 percent to number three, ahead of McDonald’s Corp.
New versions of the iPhone and iMac and the introduction of the iPad tablet helped Apple almost double sales and profit for the latest quarter. Apple overtook Microsoft Corp. as the most valuable technology company by market value in May 2010.
Facebook Inc. had a 246 percent climb in brand value, the fastest, to become the number 35 brand at $19.1 billion.
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