The Boston Consulting Group’s annual survey of the most innovative companies has surveyed more than 1,500 senior innovation executives. Among the 50 most innovative companies, Apple reached the first position and Samsung is seventh. Also Xiaomi entered into ranking, arriving at the 35th place. Siemens and Huawei are close: they occupy respectively the 45 and 46 position. Besides, 34 companies on the list are from the US, 10 are from Europe, and 6 from Asia. This regional mix represents a significant shift toward North American companies, which capture 68% of the top 50, up from 44% in 2013. The research finds a gap between the strongest innovators and their weaker peers: strong innovators take a more analytical approach, with 65% reporting they find new ideas through social network and big data mining (compared with just 14% for weak innovators). Strong innovators are also flexible in how they bring in innovations. For example, 66% say that they find new ideas through external partnerships often or very often (versus just 22% for weak innovators). Click here to see the ranking.
