Alibaba, Huawei join Google, Apple and Facebook among world’s most valuable technology brands

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group and telecommunications equipment powerhouse Huawei Technologies joined the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook among the top-ranked companies in the latest survey of the world’s 100 most valuable technology brands.

This year’s global ranking, published on Thursday by London-based consultancy Brand Finance, showed for the first time that two Chinese companies have landed in the top 10, with Alibaba up four spots to eighth and Huawei at tenth.

There were a total of 16 Chinese companies included in the top-100 list of Brand Finance, which values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies every year.

“Many of these Chinese tech titans were virtually unknown just a few years ago and some are barely known outside their home market today,” Brand Finance said.

It pointed out that these firms are now “making waves financially and building brands that are rapidly gaining traction outside China”.

The consultancy estimates the value of brands using its “Royalty Relief” approach. This involves estimating the likely future sales that are attributable to a brand and calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for use of the brand.