Apple has received another award for most valuable brand in 2014, this time from Forbes magazine, which named the Cupertino, Calif.-based company number one in its annual list.

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According to Forbes:

"When it comes to charging a premium price and moving product, no one does it better than Apple. There are other phones and tablets that are functionally comparable or arguably better than the iPhone and iPad, but the Apple brand carries tremendous weight and credibility, and customers are willing to pay up for that.

"The company sold 39.3 million iPhones in its latest quarter and could sell as many as 60 million during the last three months of 2014 with the holiday selling season. Apple also moved 12.3 million iPads and 5.5 million Macs last quarter."

The numbers speak for themselves; Apple's two phones regularly manage to beat hundreds of different iterations of Samsung's low and high-end devices, showing the dominance of Apple's brand, even for customers who want the best performance.

On Mac, Apple has continued to grow in market share, while the PC market continues to fall. The 5.5 million sales this quarter is the highest in three years, on top of huge downloads in the software and services sector.

The recent surge into China has also shown Apple can adapt to new markets and become integrated into the scene. Over 30 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units have apparently been sold in China alone, accounting for almost half of the total sales in 2014.

The big challenge for Apple will be its next consumer gadget, coming in 2015. The Apple Watch has been a huge focus point on the question of whether wearables are necessary, and Apple's attempt at answering this could create a new market or keep it as a niche item, depending on the success.

Microsoft and Google were second and third in the Forbes list.

TagsForbes, most valuable brand