Earlier this week Nvidia briefly became the most valuable company in the world by market cap, with its $3.3 trillion valuation overshadowing rival tech giants like Microsoft and Google. However, the graphics and AI accelerator company doesn't even crack the top 100 most iconic brands in Interbrand's latest survey. In tech and business circles AI computing is well known to have driven Nvidia to record revenues these past few quarters, especially as it shipped over 3.76M data center GPUs in 2023. However, the green team's branding hasn't seemed through into the consciousness of the general public.
Huge sales volumes and orders are driving Nvidia's stock price, and with the next-generation Blackwell AI chips from the company estimated to cost $70,000 a piece, there is no sign that the company's growth will slow down. Nvidia clinched the 'most valuable' company title from Apple a few days ago, which held it from 2011 to until 2024, except for a brief period early this year, when Microsoft beat Apple from January to June.
However, despite being among the most valuable companies in the world, eclipsing household names, it doesn't mean that Nvidia has become well-known outside of its niches. According to brand consulting firm Interbrand, Nvidia didn't even make the top 100 most recognizable brands in the world. As of now, the top hardware tech firms to make the Best Global Brands list are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Samsung, IBM, Intel, and Xiaomi. Huawei (#92) even made the list despite the multiple bans and sanctions the US government has played on the company.
CNBC explains that Nvidia's quick rise to the top of the most valuable companies in the world happened so quickly that the company hasn't had time to strengthen its brand awareness. According to Greg Silverman, Interbrand's Global Director for Brand Economics, "As a product company recently moving onto a global stage, Nvidia has not had time, nor has it dedicated resources, to change its role of brand and strengthen its brand to protect future revenue. [Its] weak brand strength will limit how valuable it will be, despite its market cap heights." (via CNBC)
Outside of technology, almost no one may know about the company, except for investors. But if you look at other corporations on Interbrand's list, they will certainly have brand recognition even if you're not into their market segment. Some of these include Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Ford, Tesla, which goes to show that you do not have to be an auto enthusiast to know what these brands are.
Of course, it might only be a matter of time until Nvidia's brand rises to public prominence. Gamers already know about the company, especially those who have high-performance rigs and build their own PCs. Furthermore, unless AI development comes to a complete halt, especially due to its rising power demands, we expect it to continue growing exponentially, and Nvidia will likely grow along with it.
Marketing data and analytics firm Kantar even put the company in its Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands of 2024, with the Nvidia brand sitting at position 6, with a brand value worth more than $201 million. Kantar Senior Brand Strategist Marc Glovsky said, "Nvidia is pound for pound as relevant and meaningful to that B2B buyer that's looking to make big, large purchases in-house for their company as Apple is to the consumer who's buying an iPad or Mac."
