SEOUL, KOREA - Samsung joined the world's top-ten list in terms of brand value last year, first in its history. According to the Global Top-100 Brands released by a brand consulting group Interbrand in October 2012, Samsung climbed up by eight steps from No. 17 to No. 9 in terms of brand value.
Excluding U.S. companies, Samsung now has the highest brand value in the world. This was the first time for Samsung to be included in the top-ten list in Interbrand's brand survey.
Samsung overtook Toyota (No. 10), Mercedes Benz (No. 11), BMW (No. 12), and Louis Vuitton (No. 14), all of which had stood ahead of Samsung last year.
Samsung is behind a group of American companies, including Coca-Cola, Apple, IBM, Google, Microsoft, GE, McDonald's, and Intel.
Samsung's brand value grew by about 40 percent in 2012 compared to US$23.4 billion in 2011, higher than the industry average growth of 16 percent. This is also higher than the average growth of top-100 global brands that is estimated at 10 percent.
