Huawei listed in Forbes’ Most Valuable Brands of 2020

Shenzhen-based telecom giant Huawei became the only Chinese technology brand listed in this year’s list of the world’s most valuable brands, released by Forbes on Tuesday.

Ranked 93rd on the list, Huawei registered US$8.5 billion in brand value and US$188.6 billion in brand revenue.

Forbes’ annual list looks at the top 100 companies from fiscal year 2019, valuing their revenue and earnings. Companies with substantial brand value gains in 2019 like Amazon, Netflix and PayPal also seem to be big winners during the pandemic, following overall upward trends for e-commerce, streaming and digital payments.

Apple once again topped the list as the most valuable brand with US$241.2 billion in brand value, followed by Google (US$207.5 billion), Microsoft (US$162.9 billion), Amazon (US$135.4 billion) and Facebook (US$70.3 billion), the rankings showed.

The tech sector was the most common in the rankings with 20 companies, followed by 14 in financial services, 11 in auto and eight in retail.

The top 100 most valuable brands this year were worth US$2.54 trillion in total, up from US$2.33 trillion last year. U.S.-based companies made up more than 50 of the top 100, followed by Germany (10), France (9), Japan (6) and Switzerland (5).

In January, Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy headquartered in the U.K., named Huawei one of the top 10 most valuable brands for the first time ever.

In the Brand Finance Global 500 2020 report, Huawei was the third Chinese company on the list with a brand value of US$65.08 billion, up 4.5 percent year on year.

“Clearly the next big opportunity for the telecoms industry, the 5G space is inviting fierce competition, with Huawei expanding into markets traditionally covered by Western providers. Despite sparking controversy, the Chinese giant is making clear headway, and with a brand value of US$65.1 billion, now counts among the world’s top 10 most valuable brands for the first time,” wrote Brand Finance in the report.

Huawei’s brand value growth can be attributed to its commitment to innovation to continually improve product competitiveness and consumer experience.

In 2019, Huawei shipped 240 million units of smartphones and retained its position as the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer.

The company shipped more than 44 million units of its Mate Series and P Series flagship devices, recording a 50- percent increase year on year. Huawei’s 5G smartphones recorded 6.9 million unit shipments as of December 2019.

Huawei’s products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by a third of the world’s population.