Why Apple Missed Making MIT’s List Of Smartest Companies

With each of its patents, Apple might generate more buzz and headlines than any other company in the world, but it fails to be one of the smartest companies, at least according to MIT’s 2015 list of the 50 smartest companies.

Apple, which stood at No. 6 on the list last year, lost its position to its key Chinese competitor Xiaomi, which ranked No. 30 on this year’s list.

While the criteria for selecting the companies remains somewhat unclear, the list is reportedly built by thinking of companies that have commercialized truly innovative technology and stirred the market with their disruption.

“It might sound difficult to define what makes a smart company, but you know one when you see it,” said Deputy Editor Brian Bergstein of MIT Technology Review. “Familiar names such as Apple and Facebook aren’t on this list because reputation doesn’t matter. We’re highlighting where important innovations are happening right now.”

All the brouhaha over the launch of the new iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple Pay and the latest iOS 9 might mystify the world with an illusion of constant innovation, but the facts say otherwise.

Tracking the patent activity for the past two-and-a-half years, Apple hasn’t made it to the list of Top 10 companies filing the most patents. In 2013, Apple stood at No. 13, and in 2014, it stood at No. 11. So far into 2015, it has maintained the same position with 780 patents granted between January and May.

So who sits atop the list of innovation? Well, there’s IBM with 3,059 patents granted just this year, closely followed by Samsung with 3,052. Google stands at the fifth position with 1,083 patents so far this year.

It comes as no surprise that all three of Apple’s toughest competitors — Google, Samsung and IBM — made it to the Top 10 ranks of MIT’s list.

Though its “innovation ranking” might be tumbling, Apple, with its $98.3 billion brand value, continues to sell more and is well positioned to be the first trillion dollar company in the world.

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