by , 7:00 PM EDT, July 27th, 2006

Apple Computer is the #39 most valuable global brand, according to the BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking of 2006. That's up from #41 in 2005 and #50 in 2003, and represents a 14% rise in Apple's brand value year over year. The ranking values Apple's brand as being worth some US$9.13 billion.

#1 on this year's list is Coca-Cola, with a brand value of $67 billion. Microsoft remained the world's second most valuable brand with a value of $59.926 billion, a 5% drop from 2005. Out of the top 100 brands, Google's brand value jumped the most to $12.4 billion, a rise of some 46%.

IBM (#3), Intel (#5), HP (#13), Cisco (#18), Dell (#25), Sony (#26), Oracle (#29), and SAP (#34) are all technology companies ranked higher than Apple.

According to BusinessWeek/Interbrand, in order to be included in the top global brands list, a brand must have a minimum brand value of $2.7 billion, achieve about one third of their earnings outside of their home country, have publicly available marketing and financial data, and have a wider public profile beyond their direct customer base.

Apple's increasing brand awareness and value has paralleled the company's rising Mac sales, but most directly can be attributed to the company's growing digital music empire with iTunes and iPod.