Brands: Apple the biggest winner in 2012, BlackBerry the biggest loser, Google passes Microsoft

We all know Apple’s iPhone is wiping the floor with RIM’s BlackBerry, but just how bad is it? Interbrand today announced its “Best Global Brands 2012” report, and the results aren’t pretty: Cupertino’s brand value in dollars grew the most this year, while Waterloo’s brand value saw the biggest drop out of all the companies that made the top 100 list.

Apple’s brand value increased a whopping 129 percent to $76.58 billion, the most for any company on the list, pushing it six spots up from eight last year to second place this year. Who was number one? Coca-Cola took gold, of course, with a brand value of $77.84 billion.

Microsoft’s brand meanwhile fell 2 percent to $57.85 billion, causing it to drop from third place to fifth. This let Google surpass its rival for the first time, as the search giant saw its brand grow 26 percent to $69.73 billion, by maintaining its fourth place spot. IBM was third with a brand value of $75.53 billion.

RIM’s BlackBerry brand meanwhile fell 39 percent, dropping from number 56 last year to number 93 this year, with a brand value of $3.92 billion. Even Facebook, which wasn’t on the list last year, debuted higher at number 69 with a brand value of $5.42 billion.

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There are a handful of other technology companies I felt were worth noting as they moved around between 2011 and 2012:

• Intel is up 12 percent to $32.89 billion (moved from number 7 to number 8).
• Samsung is up 40 percent to $32.89 billion (moved from number 17 to number 9).
• Cisco is up 7 percent to $27.20 billion (moved from number 13 to number 14).
• HP is down 8 percent to $26.09 billion (moved from number 10 to number 15).
• Oracle is up 28 percent to $22.13 billion (moved from number 20 to number 18).
• Nokia is down 16 percent to $21.01 billion (moved from number 14 to number 19).
• Amazon is up 46 percent to $18.63 billion (moved from number 26 to number 20).
• Canon is up 3 percent to $12.03 billion (moved from number 33 to number 30).
• eBay is up 12 percent to $10.95 billion (unmoved at number 36).
• Sony is down 8 percent to $9.11 billion (moved from number 35 to number 40).
• Dell is down 9 percent to $7.59 billion (moved from number 43 to number 49).
• Nintendo is down 8 percent to $7.08 billion (moved from number 48 to number 56).
• Adobe is up 9 percent to $4.56 billion (moved from number 80 to number 78).
• Yahoo is down 13 percent to $3.85 billion (moved from number 76 to number 97).

You can check out the full list here: Interbrand.

If you’re wondering where Interbrand gets its numbers, here’s what the brand consultancy company says it focuses on when building its report: the financial performance of the branded products or service, the role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice, and the strength the brand has to command a premium price or secure earnings for. This is Interbrand’s 13th annual report, and boy does it show how much can change in just a year.

Image credit: Isaac Esteban