Apple Falls From 1st to 17th Spot in 'World's Most Innovative Company' Rankings

Fast Company today published its annual rankings of the 50 most innovative companies in the world, with Apple dropping from 2018's top spot to 17th place this year.

According to the rankings, the most innovative company for 2019 is Chinese tech firm Meituan Dianping, which "expedites the booking and delivery of services such as food, hotel stays, and movie tickets." In 2018, the platform facilitated $33.8 billion in transactions for more than 350 million people in 2,800 cities.

a12bionicchip
Other companies in the top five include Singapore-based ride-hailing company Grab, NBA, The Walt Disney Company, and women's fishing e-commerce service Stitch Fix. Square, Oatly, Twitch, Shopify, and Alibaba Group also filled positions higher than Apple, whose in-house processor achievements in 2018 were highlighted:

Apple's most impressive new product of 2018 wasn't a phone or a tablet, but a chip: the A12 Bionic. Debuting in last fall's iPhones, it's the industry's first processor based on a seven-nanometer manufacturing process. The A12's 6.9 billion transistors deliver dramatically faster performance, lower power consumption, and more raw muscle for intensive applications.

Last year Apple was given first place for its 2017 accomplishments, which included the iPhone X, the Apple Watch Series 3, ARKit, and its work to improve medical care with CareKit and ResearchKit. The year previous it was ranked the number four most valuable company.

To create these rankings, Fast Company says that more than three dozen editors, reporters, and contributors surveyed thousands of companies to identify the most notable innovations of the year and trace their impact on businesses, industries, and the larger culture.

In addition to a master list, Fast Company publishes a breakdown of most innovative companies by sector. Apple topped the list in the "Consumer Electronics" category, beating out companies like Google, Microsoft, and Dell.

Top Rated Comments

Keniutek Avatar
67 months ago
No worries, few more animojis and watchbands and the top spot is theirs again...
Score: 98 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sequential Avatar
67 months ago
Deservedly so.
Score: 89 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drumcat Avatar
67 months ago
Surprised they were that high, actually.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
matt_and_187_like_this Avatar
67 months ago
These boards are so funny, everyone is so anti-Apple.
People here are passionate about Apple. But yes, no one gives a **** about watch bands, animojis and phone cases.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drumcat Avatar
67 months ago
People don't know anymore what innovation even means. The word has been repeated so many times it has lost all meaning.
Tell us, o wise beer.
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Heineken Avatar
67 months ago
People don't know anymore what innovation even means. The word has been repeated so many times it has lost all meaning.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
iGBA Feature

Game Boy Emulator for iPhone Now Available in App Store Following Rule Change [Removed]

Sunday April 14, 2024 8:06 am PDT by
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...
top stories 13apr2024

Top Stories: M4 Mac Roadmap Leaked, New iPads in Second Week of May, and More

Saturday April 13, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's hardware roadmap was in the news this week, with things hopefully firming up for a launch of updated iPad Pro and iPad Air models next month while we look ahead to the other iPad models and a full lineup of M4-based Macs arriving starting later this year. We also heard some fresh rumors about iOS 18, due to be unveiled at WWDC in a couple of months, while we took a look at how things ...
new best buy blue

Best Buy Opens Up Sitewide Sale With Record Low Prices on M3 MacBook Air, iPad, and Much More

Saturday April 13, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy this weekend has a big sale on Apple MacBooks and iPads, including new all-time low prices on the M3 MacBook Air, alongside the best prices we've ever seen on MacBook Pro, iPad, and more. Some of these deals require a My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total membership, which start at $49.99/year. In addition to exclusive access to select discounts, you'll get free 2-day shipping, an...
iGBA Feature

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:22 pm PDT by
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

Apple's First AI Features in iOS 18 Reportedly Won't Use Cloud Servers

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's first set of new AI features planned for iOS 18 will not rely on cloud servers at all, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "As the world awaits Apple's big AI unveiling on June 10, it looks like the initial wave of features will work entirely on device," said Gurman, in the Q&A section of his Power On newsletter today. "That means there's no cloud processing component to the...