Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has regained the top spot as the world’s favorite brand after having lost out to Google (GOOGL) last year in the FutureBrand Analysis of the top 100 listed companies globally. Every year, FutureBrand takes a peek at the 100 greatest organizations in terms of market capitalization in about 17 countries, asking around 3,000 customers and industry experts to give their positioning of the companies. They call it perception strength rather than financial strength.

Apple regains the top spot

It’s not certain how regularly and genuinely individuals share their sentiments about the world’s top 100 organizations, and for this, we should thank the branding organizations which encourage them to do this. For instance, FutureBrand calls itself “the creative future company,” and for years, their work has been to define and deliver future brand experiences.

For this year, Apple regained the top spot as the most-liked company after last year when Google pushed the iPhone maker to second place. Passion and admiration were the two greatest feelings bought forward by Apple this year. There has been no comment from the Cupertino-based firm on this accomplishment.

Google no longer remains one of the 100 largest companies but is now part of Alphabet. Hence, Apple does not have to worry about competing with Google any longer. The iPhone maker now has to compete with Alphabet, which is at 21^st place.

Strangely, this positioning comes out during a time when Apple’s future, according to some commentators, is said to be less clear. iPhone sales have started to slow down, and Apple’s next iPhone is said to be very similar to the last one.

Tech names dominate the list

If we observe the rankings of the companies, the continued prevalence of tech companies is very evident. They are not merely large, but also liked. Microsoft (MSFT) acquired second place with high scores in passion and admiration. Microsoft is seen as a company with an excellent near-term future. Samsung jumped to the third position from seventh. It incited far more feelings of indifference. The Korean firm scored highly on the idea of innovations and of having a brilliant future.

Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN) were also among the top 10. Comcast (CMCSA) was positioned at 86, Vodafone was at 88 and Verizon (VZ) sat at 83. These companies were listed as the lowest-ranking tech companies. Oil and tobacco companies and banks lie at the bottom of the list.