According to some fresh industry insights from Bloomberg and Kantar, Microsoft is now the world’s second most-valued brand after Apple. The Redmond-based company is valued more than Facebook and Google, which recently saw its ad revenue fall in the wake of the pandemic. One of the key factors that contributed to a 30 percent increase in value for Microsoft is the growth of the company’s cloud business.
Microsoft brand valued more than Google & Facebook
In its report, BrandZ said:
“Corporate cultural change, open systems, and the growth of its cloud business helped generate a 30 percent increase in value for Microsoft that pushed the brand up one slot in the ranking to No. 3, just after Apple, swapping places with Google, which was impacted by declining ad revenue related to Covid-19.”
Despite the pandemic woes, Microsoft recently reported a 13 percent increase in its total revenue of $38 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Most of the company’s success is driven by its cloud business. And now, the company also has plans to acquire China’s ByteDance-owned popular short video app TikTok. It goes to show that Microsoft has been steadily increasing its value over the last few months.
List of top 20 most-valuable technology brands
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Tencent
- IBM
- SAP
- Accenture
- Intel
- Adobe
- Samsung
- Salesforce
- Huawei
- Oracle
- Cisco
- Dell Technologies
- Xiaomi
- Baidu
BrandZ further added:
Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tencent, and Facebook proved extremely resilient, especially relative to brands in most other categories, with revenue and profit generally improving, although at a slower pace. Variations in performance depended on the business mix of the brands, with Google, Tencent, and Facebook more vulnerable to the downturn in advertising spending.
Country-wise, 14 US-based brands (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, IBM, Instagram, Accenture, Intel, Adobe, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Oracle, Cisco, and Dell Technologies) 4 Chinese brands (Tencent, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Badu), 1 German company (SAP), and 1 South Korean company (Samsung) have been part of BrandZ’s list of top 20 most-valuable technology brands around the world.
Microsoft eyes TikTok acquisition
Amid TikTok ban controversy in the US, Microsoft is determined to acquire TikTok’s US-based operations. By signing the executive order against TikTok, the US President Donald Trump, in a way, has issued an ultimatum against the Chinese app to close the deal with the US company within a ‘45-day’ deadline or give up on TikTok’s second-largest market after India. Microsoft is looking to close the deal with TikTok before September 15, 2020.
