Amazon overtakes Apple as world’s most valuable brand

US e-commerce giant grabs top slot despite a $51-billion value loss, research has found

Amazon has regained its position as the world's most valuable brand despite a 15% decrease in value this year, according to the annual Brand Finance Global 500 ranking, which features 48 tech companies.

According to the valuation, though Amazon reclaimed the top spot its brand value dropped more than $50 billion this year, from $350.3 billion to $299.3 billion. Its rating went from AAA+ to AAA as consumers “evaluate it more harshly in the post-pandemic world.”

The perception of the company’s customer service dropped as delivery times became longer and consumers were less likely to recommend Amazon to others, the research found.

“Concurrent with the conclusion of pandemic restrictions, people are returning to shopping in-person, slightly mitigating the need for online retail,” the report said.

Apple slipped to second place, with its brand value falling by 16% from $355.1 billion to $297.9 billion. This year’s fall was due to a lower revenue forecast as supply chain disruptions and a constrained labor market are expected to limit the supply of its hardware products, according to Brand Finance.

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However, Apple remains the world’s most valuable company in terms of market capitalization which as of January 18 stands at $2.163 trillion, while Amazon has a market cap of $ 979.8 billion.

Google is ranked as the world’s third most valuable brand with a 7% increase in its value to $281.4 billion, according to Brand Finance.

Some of the other big winners in brand value include electric car manufacturers Tesla, which saw its value up 44% to $66.2 billion, and BYD, its brand value up 57% to $10.1 billion, as demand for electric cars grows globally.

Among the top brand-value losers were Samsung, with a 7% decline to $99.7 billion, Alibaba, with a 56% slump to $10 billion, and Facebook, which was down by 42% to $59 billion.

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