[Newsmaker] Samsung's brand value moves up to 4th place in world amid robust earnings

The brand value of Samsung Electronics Co. rose two notches from a year earlier to rank fourth in an annual report on the world's most valuable brands, a British corporate valuation and strategy consultancy said Friday.

The Korean tech giant's brand value jumped 39 percent to $92.3 billion in 2018 from a year earlier and remains Asia's most valuable brand, Brand Finance said.

"As the company strives to be at the forefront of technology, and its brand philosophy 'Do What You Can't' continues to resonate with consumers, Samsung is on the right track to grow in both brand value and brand strength in the future," Brand Finance said in the report posted on its website. 

Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics said it posted record high sales and operating profits in the fourth quarter on rising chip demand.

For all of 2017, sales and operating profit came to 239.5 trillion won and 53.65 trillion won, up 18.6 percent and 83.4 from a year earlier, respectively.

Brand Finance said US e-commerce giant Amazon was the world's most valuable brand, with its brand value moving up 42 percent on-year to $150.8 billion.

Apple defended its second place in the ranking, with its value rebounding to $146.3 billion, while Google fell from the first to the third spot, with a slow brand value growth of 10 percent to $120.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Group saw its ranking fall to 79th place from the 43rd spot, with a brand value decline of 24 percent to $17.7 billion.

Hyundai Group, which has Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. under its wing, suffered a setback in China last year due to a diplomatic row between Korea and China over the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in Korea.

In China, Hyundai Motor saw its sales fall 31 percent on-year to 785,006 vehicles last year, while its affiliate Kia Motors Corp.'s sales also declined 44.61 percent to 360,006 units.(Yonhap)