«Apple Inc» writes that its company has taken first place in the list of the 500 most influential brands in the world, compiled by the analytical company World Brand Lab (WBL).

Google, which topped last year's list, has slipped to third place this year, followed by Microsoft Corp.

Eight of the ten most influential brands in the world are owned by American companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc., McDonald's Corp. and Coca-Cola Co. And there is Tesla. Two automakers: Toyota Corp. Japanese and German Mercedes-Benz also made the top ten.

In total, the list includes 33 countries. Brands from the USA lead by a wide margin (198 out of 500), according to a report by research company WBL. France, Japan, UK, Switzerland and Italy also made the list, each with over 10 top manufacturers.

World Brand Lab has been compiling this list since 2003, tracking the business of 80,000 brands from 60 countries.