By: iPadfanzz staff on November 14, 2012
Cupertino-based Apple once again held the top slop in management consulting firm Booz & Company's annual survey of the top 10 most innovative companies. This is for the third time that the company has received the honors.
In 700-company survey, nearly 80 per cent of the respondents named Apple as one of the top three most innovative companies in the world. Google, which came second, ahead of 3M, was listed in the top three by 43 percent of respondents.
What’s significant was that Apple actually ‘increased its lead substantially’ as 70 per cent of survey respondents ranked it as one of the three most innovative companies in the world.
At the same time, Samsung also improved its ranking to the present fourth position from seventh in 2011 (the first time it had ever made the top 10) and Microsoft slipped one place to sixth. Popular social networking website Facebook did not find a mention among the top 10 and was replaced by Amazon, making its first appearance in the top 10.
Facebook’s fall, according to Barry Jaruzelski, senior partner at Booz & Company, suggest that social media companies have lost some of their initial luster. “In contrast, Amazon's first-time appearance on the list suggests that both the R&D community and consumers recognize companies as providing superior value when they offer products and services in creative new ways that meet customer needs through technical innovation," he added.
Apple occupying the top spot may also surprise a few given the fact that the company spends the second least amount in research and development this year at $2.4 billion. In comparison, Samsung and Microsoft both spent $9 billion on R&D costs.
