Survey: Apple the apple of the world's eye

NEW YORK, May 9 (UPI) -- Apple, the Cupertino, Calif., firm responsible for iPhones and iPads, bumped search engine giant Google as the most valuable global brand, a survey indicates.

Apple's coattails were long enough to pull AT&T from No. 22 to No. 7, global research agency Millward Brown said in a news release. Until this year, AT&T was the exclusive iPhone retailer.

"I would say the big story ... is the tale of the tablet. If you see just how much Apple's brand value has gone up, the iPad is large part of that," Millward Brown Chief Executive Officer Eileen Campbell told ABC News.

Apple ousted Google from the top spot, a slot it held for four straight years, Millward Brown, a part of Kantar, the information and consulting division of WPP in London, said Sunday in a release. Millward Brown is based in New York.

Other findings in the study indicated the combined value of all the brands in the top 100 rose by 17 percent and is $2.4 trillion last year.

"The importance of brand for global business success is becoming increasingly significant," said David Roth at WPP. "In the last year, the global economy shifted from recovery to real growth, the combined value of all brands in the Top 100 ranking has risen by 64 percent since 2006 and is now worth $2.4 trillion. Strong brands, while not immune to the vicissitudes of the market, are more protected, prepared, resourceful and resilient."

The list, officially called BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, is compiled by Millward Brown from a database of more than 2 million consumer interviews in 30 countries and publicly financial data.