By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

Amazon maintained its title as the world’s most valuable brand, an independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy announced on Tuesday.

Brand value of the online retailer climbed 25 percent to hit $187.9 billion, the Brand Finance said in its Global 500 report.

It said no industry is "safe from the threat and power of Amazon" as last year it recorded its most successful Prime Day to date and hit the $1 trillion threshold on Wall Street for the first time in its history along with having "ever-diversifying" portfolio.

The tech sector has carved out a clear space of its own, demanding 6 positions in the top 10 most valuable brands.

It was followed by Apple of which brand value rose 5 percent to $153.6 billion. Google was ranked third with a brand value of 142.8 billion, up 18.1 percent year-on-year.

"As Apple struggles to grow in key emerging markets and shows little motivation to diversify its portfolio, it could be the opportune moment for Google to shift to 2nd place in 2020," the report read.

Microsoft posted the fastest growth among the top ten with a 47 percent rise in its brand value to $119.6 billion in 2019.

The U.S.-based tech giant’s transformation to a cloud-centric business model has proven successful in last year, with revenue increasing 17 percent in 2018, the report said.

"The brands that evolve and experiment in new sectors, like Amazon and Microsoft, are the ones who will continue to outperform competitors; while the brands that are slower to adapt or diversify, like Walmart and Apple, will miss a key opportunity to grow brand value," David Haigh, CEO of the Brand Finance, said.

Chinese tech giant iQiyi entered the Brand Finance Global 500 for the first time as the world’s fastest-growing brand this year, with a brand value of $4.3 billion -- up 326 percent year-on-year.

The report also revealed that Italian luxury motor vehicle manufacturer Ferrari was named as the world’s strongest brand.

Brand Strength Index score of Ferrari went up 3 points to 94.8 in 2018 report, overtaking the likes of McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Lego, and Disney, it added.