REVEALED: World's ten most innovative brands

US technology firm Apple has been named the world’s most innovative company in Booz & Company’s 2012 Global Innovation 1,000 Study.

The report, released this week, placed the maker of the iPhone and iPad in first place on the back of US$108.2bn in revenues during 2011 and US$2.4bn in research and development spending.

In second place was search engine firm Google, which last year recorded US$37.9bn in revenue and splashed out US$5.2bn on research and development funding.

Click here to see the world’s top ten most innovative companies

The Booz & Company study found that overall research and development spending in 2011 increased 9.6 percent to US$603bn.

The global management consultancy’s research took into account a business’s revenue, percentage of spend on research and development, as well as surveying 700 innovation leaders across the word to determine who they thought were the world’s most innovative company.

“Consistent with our study findings from previous years, there is no long-term correlation between the amount spent on innovation and an organization’s overall financial success,” said Barry Jaruzelski, senior partner at Booz & Company and global leader of the Engineered Products & Services practice.

He added that “what really matters is not the amount spent, but how those R&D funds are invested in talent, process, and tools”.

Click here to see the world’s top ten most innovative companies