China now has one of the world's most valuable brands. 
 
 Shenzhen-based tech firm Tencent has broken into a ranking of the top 10 most valuable brands published by BrandZ. 
 
 The annual ranking is typically dominated by American companies with global reach, making the inclusion of a Chinese firm notable. 
 
 Tencent specializes in popular online games, apps, instant messaging services and online payments. It boasts a market capitalization of $330 billion, making it worth more than America's most valuable bank: JPMorgan Chase (JPM). 
 
 Here's a round-up of the world's 10 most valuable brands: 
 
 1. Google 
 
 Google (GOOGL, Tech30) is still the most valuable brand in the world; a title it has retained for seven out of the past 11 years. 
 
 Its brand value -- worth just over $245 billion -- increased by 7% from 2016. 
 
 The company has transformed itself from a simple search engine to an all-encompassing lifestyle brand, said Doreen Wang, Global Head of BrandZ. 
 
 Google's brand is associated with innovative research, self-driving cars and helpful online services like Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Maps. 
 
 Bonus: The company consistently ranks as one of the world's best employers. 
 
 2. Apple 
 
 Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) brand value nudged up by 3% to $235 billion, helping it retain the No. 2 position in the ranking. But the brand has lost some shine since 2015 when it topped the BrandZ ranking. 
 
 Wang said Apple's "innovation speed over the last year is not perceived to be as fast as Google or Amazon." 
 
 BrandZ's ranking relies heavily on consumer perceptions. If people can't see that Apple is being innovative, its brand value will suffer. 
 
 3. Microsoft 
 
 Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) has landed in the third slot for three years running. Its brand valuation nudged up by 5% to $143 billion. 
 
 "The key word is Microsoft Cloud," said Wang, who said the success of the company's cloud and business services helped improve consumer perceptions. 
 
 Microsoft generates nearly a third of its revenue and almost 40% of its operating profits from its "Intelligent Cloud" line of businesses. 
 
 Investors are clearly happy with the company: Shares have shot up by about 16% since the start of the year. 
 
 4. Amazon 
 
 Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) has been on fire over the past year and its brand value surged by 41% to hit $139 billion. 
 
 "Wherever the consumers go, Amazon is going," said Wang. "At this moment, that is the right strategy." 
 
 The retail giant offers a wide range of services: online shopping, grocery delivery, cloud computing and entertainment are just the tip of the iceberg. It's continuing to develop artificial intelligence services and its personal digital assistant, Alexa. 
 
 Investors have taken notice too, bidding up shares by 34% since the start of the year. 
 
 5. Facebook 
 
 The Facebook (FB, Tech30) brand continues to perform well, despite scandals over fake news and violent events streamed live on its platform. 
 
 Users think of Facebook as "friendly" and "helpful," said Wang. This has helped convince advertisers to move onto the platform, and users don't seem to mind the growth in advertised content, she said. 
 
 Facebook's brand value shot up by 27% over the past year to hit $130 billion. 
 
 6. AT&T 
 
 Telecom giant AT&T (T, Tech30) has appeared in the ranking for seven consecutive years and its brand has increased in value by 65% over that period. It's now worth $115 billion. 
 
 "It's becoming a more dynamic brand and increasing communications with consumers," said Wang. 
 
 The company is trying to close an acquisition of CNN's parent company, Time Warner (TWX), that is worth about $109 billion including debt. If the purchase goes ahead, it would be one of the biggest takeovers of all time. 
 
 7. Visa 
 
 Visa (V) is an American company with a name that's recognized around the world. 
 
 The company's brand value increased 10% to hit $111 billion this year. 
 
 The brand got a particularly big boost after Costco (COST) ended its relationship with American Express (AXP) last year in favor of a new one with Visa and Citigroup (C). 
 
 Millions of former Costco AmEx cards were subsequently transferred to Visa and Citi. 
 
 8. Tencent 
 
 Led by its media-shy CEO, "Pony" Ma Huateng, Tencent (TCEHY) is huge in China, where its messaging platform WeChat is used for everything from texting to booking karaoke sessions. 
 
 BrandZ said that increased used of WeChat helped to propel Tencent into the top 10 for the first time. Its brand value jumped 27% to $108 billion. 
 
 The only other Chinese firm to have cracked the top 10 is China Mobile, but it hasn't appeared on the list since 2013. 
 
 Tencent is hoping to avoid that same fate by expanding globally. It announced plans last month to set up an artificial intelligence research lab in Seattle. 
 
 "Right now they're very aggressive in going beyond China," said Wang. 
 
 9. IBM 
 
 IBM (IBM, Tech30) has been included in the ranking since it started in 2006. 
 
 This year the brand has been valued at $102 billion, up 18% from last year. 
 
 The company has helped boost its consumer appeal through the development of the artificial intelligence mascot Watson. 
 
 "Watson is the face of the company's transformation," said Wang. 
 
 10. McDonald's 
 
 McDonald's (MCD) is the only truly non-tech company to be featured in the top 10 ranking this year. 
 
 The brand has received a boost by introducing more healthy food options. It's also offering more locally-inspired options in places like China and India, said Wang. 
 
 "McDonald's has been doing pretty well compared to the other fast food restaurants," she said. ||||| Global Top 100 rises 8%, 152% over 12 years 
 
 Technology brands drive value growth 
 
 TOP-LINE, YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGES 
 
 The 2017 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands increased 8 percent in brand value year-on-year, to $3.6 trillion, following a 3 percent increase a year ago. 
 
 Retail led the ranking in category value growth, increasing 14 percent, driven by e-commerce, with Amazon and Alibaba up 41 percent and 20 percent in value. 
 
 Aguila, a Colombian beer brand, Coca-Cola, and Pampers led in Brand Contribution, a BrandZ™ metric for the strength of brand alone without any other factors. 
 
 The BrandZ™ Business-to- Business Top 20 increased 11 percent in value, led by Shell, which rose 23 percent, and DHL and FedEx, each up 20 percent. 
 
 The value of the BrandZ™ Strong Brands Portfolio increased 124.9 percent between April 2006 and April 2017, outperforming both the S&P 500 and the MSCI World Index. 
 
 Adidas led the ranking in brand value growth, increasing 58 percent on the strength of its on-trend fashion and its initiatives to raise brand popularity in the US. 
 
 US LEADS AND CHINA RISES 
 
 54 of the Global Top 100 brands are based in the US, and US brands now comprise 71 percent of the Global Top 100 value. 
 
 US brands rose 181 percent in brand value over 12 years, compared with 102 percent for brands from other countries. 
 
 US brands rose 12 percent in value year-on-year, and other brands declined 1 percent, except Chinese brands, which grew 1 percent. 
 
 13 of the Global Top 100 brands are based in China, up from only 1 brand 12 years ago. 
 
 Chinese brands rose 937 percent in brand value over 12 years, and now comprise 11 percent of Global Top 100 value. 
 
 TECHNOLOGY DOMINATES 
 
 Apple and Google remained the No. 1 and 2 brands in the Global Top 100, each valued at almost $250 billion (combined, about the GDP of Sweden.) 
 
 Amazon entered the Global Top 10 at No. 4, with a 41 percent increase in brand value, to $139 billion. 
 
 37 technology brands comprised 54 percent of the 2017 BrandZ™ Global Top 100 value. In 2006, 30 technology brands comprised 37 percent of value. (“Technology” includes technology, telecom providers, and e-commerce brands.) 
 
 Technology brands in the Global Top 100 increased 16 percent year-on-year, compared with a 4 percent increase for other brands. 
 
 The seven Newcomer brands in this year’s Global Top 100 are technology-related: YouTube, HPE, Salesforce, Netflix, Snapchat, and telecom providers Xfinity and Sprint. 
 
 BRANDS GET YOUNGER 
 
 The average age of a Newcomer is 20 (started in 1997). 
 
 The average age of a Global Top 100 brand is 67 (started in 1950). In 2006, the average age was 83 (started in 1934). ||||| Microsoft has, for the first time, been beaten in market cap by Apple. At the close of the market today, Apple sat at $222.12 billion, a gain of 1.8%, while Microsoft went down 1% to $219.18 billion. That makes Apple, according to market cap, the most valuable tech company in the world. Yet compared to Microsoft, Apple has both less cash on hand ($23 billion vs. $35.7 billion) and less revenue ($42.9 billion vs. $58.4 billion). So the fact that the market has valued Apple higher is big news indeed. 
 
 That Apple has, improbably and at long last, passed Microsoft in market value has everyone looking more closely at the two companies. In the early years of personal computing (like, 20 years ago. Ancient history, right?), the rivalry between the two formed the basis of the industry's narrative. But now, the industry's changed in more ways than can be neatly summed up in a wistful paragraph, and it's not even a given that Apple and Microsoft are competitors. Rather than trying to examine the ever-changing facets of each business as a whole, let's look at something more concrete -- their products -- as a measure of where the two tech giants stand right now. 
 
 Microsoft is massive, and like some kind of funhouse mirror gets more massive the closer you look. But it is still essentially a software company. The two biggest product lines at Microsoft are Windows, the world's most popular computer operating system (found on nine out of 10 computers), and Office, a suite of productivity tools including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. One of them is probably running in the background right now on your machine, PC or Mac. 
 
 Windows is the keystone of the Platform Products and Services Division, which also includes Windows Live, a service made up of mostly web apps like Hotmail, Messenger, and SkyDrive; Bing, a search engine, and the accompanying Bing Maps; the cable news channel MSNBC; the online magazine Slate; Microsoft Visual Studio, a suite of programming tools; Amalga, a healthcare information system for hospitals; and the assorted software under the Windows Server System umbrella, among many, many others. Microsoft currently supports a litany of OSes, including Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Kin, Windows CE, and Zune, with Windows Phone 7 to come shortly, not to mention that Microsoft has to support older versions of Windows like Vista and XP that can still be found on netbook or budget computers. 
 
 In the entertainment section, they've got DirectX; Windows Media Center; Silverlight, which is used for streaming video, including the most recent Olympics; and the accompanying software for their comparatively meager line of hardware. There's Zune, with its Zune Marketplace (a subscription-based digital music store), its line of portable media players, and, soon, integration with Windows Phone 7. There's Xbox, with its Xbox Live online gaming community, huge library of games, media abilities, and Xbox 360 hardware. There's Surface, a groundbreaking touch interface that's been allowed to lay fallow, living its life as little more than a perennial tech demo. Microsoft also has a well-regarded line of accessories like keyboards and mice. 
 
 Frankly, that list is barely the tip of the iceberg--Microsoft also has a serious influence in alternative energies, education, and enterprise software. The latter especially is a huge department with all kinds of analytical tools and systems. But it gives you an idea of just how all-encompassing Microsoft really is. In different departments, they're competing with entirely different companies in all corners of the tech industry. 
 
 Microsoft products are serviced in several different ways: software is serviced through Microsoft by phone or email, but hardware is often the purview of the specific hardware manufacturer, especially in the case of PCs. 
 
 Apple, by contrast, has three laptops in varying sizes, one all-in-one desktop, one mini desktop, and one tower desktop. All six run the same OS, also made by Apple, and include Apple's iLife software suite. Then there's the three mobile devices that run Apple's second OS, iPhone OS: the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Finally, there's the media hardware: the three "legacy" iPods (Classic, Nano, and Shuffle) and the mostly ignored Apple TV. Apple also sells accessories for these devices, including a wireless router, monitor, and keyboard and mouse. In terms of software, Apple has the two OSes, plus iTunes and its media store, and the App Store for its iPhone OS devices. They sell and service all of that stuff in Apple Stores. Really, that's about it. Update: I forgot one important product--Apple's line of creative software, including Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, which are incredibly successful and can be considered the standard in that industry. Thanks to the commenters and readers for pointing that out. 
 
 Apple is startlingly narrow in their scope, at least in comparison. More focused on both hardware and the consumer (rather than enterprise) side of tech than Microsoft, Apple's product lines are thus much easier to understand. You can take a glance at the homepages of the two companies to see the difference; Microsoft's list of products runs to the dozens and includes several I've never heard of, while Apple has seven buttons corresponding to their products, all of which (MacBook, iPod, iMac, etc) are instantly distinctive and familiar. Despite a couple duds (I'm looking at you, Apple TV and Mac Mini), Apple's philosophy is both simple and focused on simplicity: "Get rid of the crappy stuff." 
 
 I barely scratched the surface in five paragraphs about Microsoft, while in a single paragraph about Apple, I feel like I've pretty much covered everything. 
 
 The New York Times calls the market cap valuation a "changing of the guard." It is--in about twelve different ways. The companies are so different these days that it's hard to know what's most momentous; this isn't Pepsi overcoming Coke. Is it simple scope defeating broad? Consumer over enterprise? A triumph of superior marketing? The power of a cult of personality? The answer is yes. Since the introduction of the iPod, Apple has captured mindshare in ways Microsoft only dreams of. Microsoft is an amorphous blob of a corporation, with a capital C--they make essential products, certainly, but without brand loyalty or public goodwill. Apple, through unbelievably astute marketing and the power of one Steve Jobs, has won all of those fights. 
 
 Apple isn't as big as Microsoft, and probably never will be. They don't make or have as much money. But that the market has valued Apple higher is an affirmation that at the moment, Apple is leading the tech world. 
 
 Dan Nosowitz, the author of this post, can be followed on Twitter, corresponded with via email, and stalked in San Francisco (no link for that one--you'll have to do the legwork yourself).
– Bragging rights for the world's most valuable brands are usually controlled by US companies, but in this year's ranking by BrandZ, one of China's own cracked the top 10, CNN reports. Tencent, which makes online games, apps, and other digital add-ons, rode on the coattails of its WeChat app to make the list, which saw the familiar names of Google, Apple, and Microsoft dominate the first three slots, respectively. The top 10 brands, along with brand value: Google, $246 billion Apple, $235 billion Microsoft, $143 billion Amazon.com, $139 billion Facebook, $130 billion AT&T, $115 billion Visa, $111 billion Tencent, $108 billion IBM, $102 billion McDonald's, $98 billion See the entire list here. (Do we even care about brands anymore?)