Apple and Google are the “most innovative companies in the world”, but firms based in Asia are increasingly setting the pace in this area, according to a new study.
Business Week, the magazine, and the Boston Consulting Group, the consultancy, surveyed 1,590 senior executives worldwide to identify which brand owners they thought were the most successful in this area.
These findings were then combined with the financial results of the most widely-mentioned corporations, such as their sales for the last three years, stock returns and margins.
Apple took first place, as was the case in the same study in 2009, having launched products like the iPad and iPhone while simultaneously posting upticks of around 30% on the financial metrics assessed.
Google was in second, with its constantly-evolving search advertising operations – the main driver of its revenues – now supplemented by sites like YouTube and a growing presence in the mobile sector.
Microsoft, IBM and Toyota completed the top five, with each member of this group as a whole having also performed strongly in the rankings in 2009.
By contrast, Nintendo, the Japanese gaming giant, plummeted from fifth to twentieth in this period, after the momentum gained from devices like the Wii and DS started to slow.
However, this situation was not reflected among its Asian counterparts more broadly, with 15 of the 50 most innovative companies now drawn from this region, compared with just five in 2006.
LG Electronics, based in Korea, and BYD, in China, came in seventh and eighth respectively, with Sony, from Japan, in tenth position.
Elsewhere, Haier, Lenovo and China Mobile were the other entrants from China, along with HTC from Taiwan, Hyundai and Samsung from Korea, and Honda and Fast Retailing from Japan.
Indeed, the majority of Business Week’s top 25 were based outside the US for the first time, while firms from Europe claimed 11 spots in the top 50, led by Volkswagen, the German car maker in fifteenth.
Tata Group and Reliance Industries were the only representatives from India, with Brazil’s Petrobas the sole organisation from South America to feature.
Amazon, General Electric, Intel and Ford were some of the other US operators which made the top 20, with Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Nike all on the longer list.
“We’re starting to see the beginning of a new world order,” James P. Andrew, the head of Boston Consulting Group’s innovation practice said.
“Increasingly, rapidly developing economies (and their companies), led by China, India, and Brazil, are beginning to seize the leadership reins from more-mature countries.”
“This is not a new story, but innovation will likely be the best, and perhaps only, lever for staying ahead of this new wave of advantaged, motivated competitors.”
Overall, 83% of participants to the Business Week and BCG poll said innovation would play a key role in their attempts to take advantage of the economic recovery.
A further 72% of respondents argued research and development was one of their three main objectives for this year, with 61% planning to heighten their investment in this aspect of their operations.
“If every company says it’s working very, very hard to become more innovative, that means all of its competitors are, too.”
Somewhat surprisingly, a minority of 41% of the panel intended to adopt this strategy in Brazil, China and India, a decline from 45% who said the same last year.