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.

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Top Rated Comments

Keniutek Avatar
80 months ago
No worries, few more animojis and watchbands and the top spot is theirs again...
Score: 98 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sequential Avatar
80 months ago
Deservedly so.
Score: 89 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drumcat Avatar
80 months ago
Surprised they were that high, actually.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
matt_and_187_like_this Avatar
80 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
80 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
80 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)