updated 03:50 pm EDT, Fri August 5, 2011
Forbes puts Apple at 5th but behind Amazon
Forbes has updated its Most Innovative Companies chart to reveal what it considers the most innovative companies in the world. The ranks buck some expectations and give enterprise-focused Salesforce the top spot where frequent darling of the list, Apple, is at fifth. Amazon, Intuitive Surgical, and QQ creator Tencent all rank higher.
Google ranks seventh. Other more commonly recognized technology companies rank considerably lower, with Nintendo at 20th, Adobe at 54th, HTC at 56th, and Qualcomm at 61st, among others. Microsoft was relatively distant at 86th.
The magazine doesn't directly explain why each company reached its given rank. Its method, however, stressed not just the ability of the companies' CEOs and management to be profitable but how unique and clever their product strategies were. Those whose leaders were more likely to break out of traditional behavior, go beyond their field to find a different approach, and their willingness to experiment.
Amazon has often been considered the pioneer of modern online retail and has more recently been turning itself into a digital media store with not just the Kindle but Instant Video streaming and the Appstore. Few have been directly innovative, but they have shown Amazon can get away from physical goods and even thrive on digital.
Apple's record is largely self-explanatory with the iPad, iPhone, and iPod and their matching content stores. Macs have also played a role in more recent memory by succeeding where others struggle as well as through less traditional designs like the MacBook Air.
Microsoft has had some success with Kinect but, as shown by recent results, hasn't been growing as quickly or succeeding based on new properties. The majority of its revenue is still based on Office and Windows with the Xbox making up the majority of the rest. Windows revenue has been declining slightly in recent months, and most attempts to branch out, such as Windows Phone and Zune, so far haven't panned out.