14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is often being referred to as the most innovative company in the world, partially thanks to the fact that the firm’s leadership team is calling all of their products “innovations,” but according to new research, using this term to describe the Cupertino-based giant is not at all a mistake.
Apple is currently the world’s most innovative company, the Boston Consulting Group says in its annual report, revealing that the biggest improvement was made by Tesla Motors, which jumped from position 41 to the third place.
Google is the runner-up in the charts while Microsoft is on the fourth position - this is the fourth year in a row when the Redmond software firm takes the same place.
Microsoft and innovations
The study was performed with help from 1,500 business executives who participated in the poll and looked into different factors, such as the companies’ emphasis on speed, the R&D process investments, how much they rely on technological platforms, and the exploration of adjacent markets.
“Looking back over our surveys of the last ten years, we see that the companies that made the list of the top 50 most innovative companies in at least nine out of ten of them - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Toyota, BMW, Amazon, IBM, HP, General Electric, Cisco Systems, Nike, Sony, Intel, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart - are all strongly associated with many of those capabilities,” the company says in the research.
Microsoft itself is trying to position itself as an innovative company, and the latest products have often been described as such. For instance, the Surface portfolio is said to create new product categories - as they mix the best of tablets and laptops - while features and services such as Windows Hello and HoloLens make it possible to authenticate using iris scanners or work with holograms.
And yet, Apple still takes the leading spot in these charts, but if Microsoft maintains the same direction, there’s no doubt it can improve its position in the coming years.