Apple and Microsoft are the world’s most valuable brands right now, according to a Forbes article by Kurt Badenhausen. Apple is at the very top, estimated to be worth about $145.3 billion by Forbes. Badenhausen cites the company’s loyal fan base, which can be relied upon to line up for the company’s new mobile devices even though Apple spends a third of what arch-rival Samsung doles out on advertising. Microsoft, meanwhile is valued at $69.3 billion; Badenhausen credits its prominence, at least in part, to intensive R&D and innovative products. And both of these top companies have made gains in valuation over last year.
It’s worth noting that both have also been leading the forefront in exploring nascent technologies such as biometrics. Apple has been a pioneer in getting fingerprint scanners onto flagship mobile devices, and has now made it pretty much a standard feature for contemporary medium- and high-end smartphones. And that has the corollary effect of helping to pave the way for mPayment technology, by setting up advanced security infrastructure – which has further reinforced the need for biometric authentication. Microsoft, meanwhile, has explored the possibilities of biometric sensors in wearables such as its fitness-tracking Microsoft Band, and has also engaged in a partnership with a biometrics developer to explore secure mPayment technology. Moreover, it has embraced FIDO 2.0 specification standards for its upcoming Windows 10 platform, and is developing biometric security for that too.
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