Apple has overtaken Google to become the most valuable brand in the world. This is according to the analysts Brandz, who compile their annual Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands. Apple’s brand is estimated to be worth more than $153 billion. The tech company knocked Google off the number one position. Google had occupied the top spot for the previous four years. Apple’s new ranking consolidates its position as the top-valued technology company on the stock market. Apple’s success is due to the popularity of its pioneering and market-leading products. It released its iPad in 2008 and the tablet has become one of the most popular gadgets on the planet.


The Brandz ranking covers companies across the world, making everything from baby food to power plants, as well as financial services and telecommunications. It calculates its brand value by analyzing several factors, including the value of a company’s balance sheet, the loyalty of customers, and prospects for future growth. Apple has grown remarkably in the past decade with a series of hugely iconic and popular products. Its brand value has increased by 859 per cent since 2006. Peter Walsh, a director at Brandz, said Apple’s success was due to the desirability of its products. He said Apple had succeeded in becoming a luxury goods brand, making its products more desirable by increasing quality, reliability and price.


Free talk:


a)

What did you think when you read the headline?

b)

What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘Apple’?

c)

What do you think are the world’s top brands?

d)

What do you think of the Apple brand?

e)

Are you surprised Apple is the number one brand?

f)

What do you know about Apple?

g)

Which of Apple’s products would you like to receive as a gift? Why?

h)

Do you think Apple is a cool brand? Why (not)?

i)

What does it take to be the number one brand?

j)

Would we have mp3 players and iPads if Apple never existed?


Vocabulary:


1.

analysts

a.

because of

2

compile

b.

trustworthiness

3.

occupied

c.

works out

4.

consolidates

d.

potential

5.

due to

e.

filled

6.

ranking

f.

raising

7.

calculates

g.

make

8.

prospects

h.

backs up

9.

increasing

i.

experts

10.

reliability

j.

listing


http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1105/110510-valuable_brands.html






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