Why Apple Always Wins the "World's Most Admired Companies" Award

Another year, another win for Apple on Fortune‘s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list.

This marks the 15th year in a row that Apple as topped the annual rankings, which also saw Amazon and Microsoft come in second and third; that top three repeated that order for the third year in a row. The list is based on a poll of 3,740 corporate executives, directors and analysts. Respondents selected the 10 companies they admired most, choosing from companies that ranked in the top 25% in last year’s surveys, plus those that finished in the top 20% of their industry.

When breaking down the list, Apple gets a lot of credit from its business rivals. As the publication notes: “For the industry rankings, we ask respondents to rate their peers numerically on nine specific criteria, offering a more detailed window on where those companies shine. Apple, for example, landed in the top 10 — among all companies in all industries — in eight of those nine categories, and got the top score overall in three: ‘quality of products,’ ‘ability to attract, develop, and retain talented people,’ and ‘soundness of financial position.’”

Some other highlights of the list:

Pfizer, which made the list for the first time in 16 years, came in at No. 4. That leap was credited to the company’s development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Danaher (No. 37) made the top 50 for the first time. The company makes COVID tests and drug-development equipment.
The much-maligned Alphabet still came in at No. 7 — the owners of Facebook and pushers of the metaverse actually scored particularly well in the categories of “people management” and “quality of products/services.”

Apple certainly has its share of issues as a company: The last few months has seen the Cupertino-based tech giant chastised for their long-held positions on customer self-repair, plus high costs, spyware issues, App Store payments and AirTag stalking. That said, Tim Cook & co. seem to react better than most tech brands to complaints, and they’ve made privacy more of a centerpiece of their discussions.