World markets have gone through a decent number of ups and downs in the last 10 years.
It started with a financial crisis not seen since the great depression in the 1920s, then came the gigantic rise in ecommerce and all the disruption trends this effectuated.
Now we are in the middle of the greatest pandemic in the last 100 years, which have also meant financial headaches for industries like tourism and manufacturing, while others like the ecommerce industry have gained even more fuel.
From 2018-2019, the total revenue growth for the ecommerce industry grew with 13 % in Denmark alone.
These turnarounds have inevitably had a big influence on brands and brand development all over the world.
Some of the big brands have continued their domination without hesitation and experienced exponential growth, while other new brands have emerged and gained unexpected market shares.
But where does it go from here? Which brands will be the leading ones by the end of this decade?
What are the top 10 global brands at the end of 2029?
This is the question we try to answer in this article, and here are our top 10 global brands for this decade, in no particular order.
There are a number of factors that determined which brands ended on the list, with the most important ones being estimated brand value and growth in 2020.
And yes, there are some usual suspects on the list, because their market shares and world domination are indisputable.
But there are also some brands that are beginning to show muscles, and whom we believe are going to consolidate their places between the top top brands in the world:
Amazon:
With a growth of more than 60 %, the pandemic has proven extremely beneficial for Amazon, with more and more people turning to their platform to shop anything from groceries to cars.
In 2016 they launched their own streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, and with the launch of national platforms like Amazon.se, investments in real time data, AI and machine learning in 2020, and plans to enter the space race as well, this Seattleite mastodont seems determined to conquer the world.
Growth in 2020: +60 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 200,667 $m
Google:
They didn’t experience the predicted growth in 2020, but they are still the number one search engine in the world, and have other brands in their pockets like Youtube, who entered the top 30 biggest brands in the world in 2020.
New competition from the likes of DuckDuckGo, that offers users total user anonymity, may very well gain its share of users in this decade, but not enough to throw Google off the search engine throne.
Growth in 2020: -1 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 165,444 $m
Apple:
Apple wins the popularity contest with users in pretty much all ages. No matter which new product they throw on the market, it just clicks with the audience.
They grew an incredible 38 % last year, and with Apple + launched in March 2019, they also entered the streaming service market.
They secured the number one spot as the world’s best brand in Interbrands 2020 report, and they have also on several occasions been chosen as the most recognizable brand in the world.
Growth in 2020: +38 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 322,999 $m.
Microsoft:
Since the 1990s, Microsoft has made it their mission to diversify from the operating system market and has made a number of corporate acquisitions.
In 2011, they acquired Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion, and in 2016 LinkedIn for $26.2 billion (their largest acquisition).
Besides their products and services on the operating system market, this strategy seems to work, because their growth in 2020 was enormous, and so was their brand value.
Growth in 2020: +53 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 166,001 $m
Samsung:
Number 2 on the mobile phone market in terms of market shares, and the 5th biggest brand in the world, this Japanese giant cannot be taken too seriously.
As an old traditional Japanese company, Samsung stands out compared to the other competitors on this list because of its long history and reputation.
In 2019, they had a 25 % share of the worldwide mobile phone market, and their growth has been steady and solid for many years.
Growth in 2020: +2 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 62,289 $m
Huawei:
Huawei is the leading supplier of telecommunication in China. Their products and services are implemented in 140 countries, and they support 45 of the world’s 50st biggest telecommunication companies.
Their smartphones are the cheapest ones when it comes to how much tech you get for the buck, and this is perhaps one of their biggest assets, especially in the fast-growing economies.
In 2019 they had the third largest share of the entire mobile phone market (16%), behind Apple and Samsung, and despite the overall poor performance of 2020, their mobile market share in the world market has only gone one way in the last couple of years, and that’s up.
Growth in 2020: -9 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 6,301 $m
Netflix:
In under 10 years, Netflix has become the number one streaming service in the world, and the quality of their productions emphasize this growth.
Their production budgets are unprecedented no matter the genre, and when other companies fall short, they step in.
They take up more than 40 % of the overall streaming service market, and they are one of the top 5 fastest growing brands, according to Fortune.
Yes, the competition today is way more fierce than it was five years ago, with the likes of Amazon, Disney+ and Apple entering the market, but their lead is big.
The growth might slow down, but who wouldn’t bet on their continuing market domination, at least until the end of the decade?
Growth in 2020: +41%
Estimated brand value in 2020: 12,665 $m
IKEA:
With almost everyone in 1st world countries in need of a home office due to the pandemic, also in 3rd world countries, this Scandinavian furniture giant seemed destined to win over new markets.
The company can’t be compared to the real giants on this list in terms of growth and brand value, but their growth is solid, and they continue to enter other markets.
In 2016 they opened their first store in Africa (Casablanca, Morocco). A new one, also in Morocco, is expected to open this year, and they are planning to launch in other foreign markets in the near future as well.
Growth in 2020: +3 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 18, 870 $m
Tesla:
Elon Musk recently became the richest man in the world (once again) according to Forbes.
Many have been tired (to say the least!) about his wild proclamations in the past, and a lot where very pessimistic about how effective the new Gigafactory in China would be, but it seems as if Tesla has proved all the critics wrong.
Teslas growth in 2020 was gigantic, they totally dominate the ev market, and we believe this domination will progress even more this decade.
And remember to keep an eye on SpaceX, The Boring Company, and the other projects Elon has in his pockets.
Growth in 2020: +769 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 12,785 $m
Salesforce:
With a staggering 34 % growth in 2020, Salesforce was one of the biggest brand risers of the year, and Fortune magazine ranked the company at number six on its 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
The San Francisco based cloud-based software company mainly provides customer relationship management (CRM) services, and besides that, they are also starting acquisitioning other big potential companies.
On December 1. 2020, it was announced that they would acquire Slack for $27.7 billion, so who’s not to say that the company can make it into the top 10 biggest brands at the end of the decade?
Growth: +34 %
Estimated brand value in 2020: 10,755 $m
Main source: Interbrands Best Global Brands in 2020 report
