Apple Is 3rd Most Innovative Company by Fast Company Standards

Apple continues to tally up awards for being the best (or one of the best) in many areas, this time around ranking third on Fast Company’s “The World’s Most Innovative Companies 2010.” The company earning the fifth spot on the list, Huawei, has issued a press release announcing the feat, proudly acknowledging its position as “the fifth most innovative company in the world for 2010, behind only Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google.”

“Even in these tough times, surprising and extraordinary efforts are under way in businesses across the globe,” the people at Fast Company say. “From politics to technology, energy, and transportation; from marketing to retail, health care, and design, each company on the following pages illustrates the power and potential of innovative ideas and creative execution,” it claims, offering up a list of 50 companies that have done well this year, from an innovational standpoint.

By Fast Company standards, the most innovative company this year was Facebook, with Fast Company noting, “It was quite a year for Mark Zuckerberg and crew, whose site added a whopping 200 million users. Now, as they brush off the crumbs of MySpace and other competitors, it's time to look for their next meal. They're very, very hungry.” Last year, Facebook was ranked 15th, so it’s quite a leap.

Talking about Apple in particular, the judges say, “It's hard to fathom that Apple opened its App Store less than two years ago and already it offers more than 140,000 apps, consumers have downloaded around 3 billion apps, and it generates an estimated $1 billion a year. All that should only grow with the much-anticipated release of the iPad.” “Meanwhile, Apple's acquisition of music-streaming company Lala and its interest in streaming TV shows suggest the seeds of new revenue in a revamped iTunes. Revenue-wise, it was another fruitful year for Apple -- $36.5 billion, a 12% increase from 2008,” it concludes, justifying Apple’s rightfully earned third spot. Read the full report here.