[NewsPoster]

Apple remains in first place on an annual BrandZ ranking of the world's most valuable brands, notes MarketingWeek. Apple's brand is estimated to be worth $185.071 billion, putting it well ahead of next-closest rivals Google ($113.669 billion) and IBM ($112.536 billion). Other companies in the top 10 include McDonald's, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Microsoft, Marlboro, Visa, and China Mobile.

Although Apple continues to lead, the growth rate of the company's brand value has fallen by 95 percent, something BrandZ links to a drop in stock price and worried investors. Google, meanwhile, has reversed a 3 percent decline it saw in 2012. BrandZ's Peter Walshe observes that at roughly $71.4 billion, the gap between Apple and Google is nearly as much as the value of Coca-Cola.

The BrandZ list is complied by Millward Brown Optimor, and formulated by multiplying a corporation's financial value -- weighed in terms of profits or earnings -- by its brand contribution percentage, something judged by the proportion of financial value generated via a brand's ability to accrue loyalty.

[davidlfoster]

Pure rubbish in my opinion. I taught at Northeastern University this spring and just about everybody had iPhones - usually clothed in every type of imaginable case (both good and insane tastes). Galaxy phones represented maybe 10% of the smartphones I saw.