One fourth of the top 100 spots were held by Asian companies, showing their growing innovative power, according to the latest list of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" released by Forbes.
U.S. companies took six of the top 10 spots, proving the country's leading stature in corporate innovation. Japan has the largest number of companies on the list of any Asian country, with seven companies.
However, countries in Southeast Asia, like Indonesia, are the real winners, with two companies holding the first two spots of the 10 most innovative companies in Asia, demonstrating the energetic and creative development that this region has undergone.
In addition, many technology tycoons who made headlines because of sky-high purchase prices have also made it onto the list.
Let's take a look at Top 10 most innovative companies in Asia in 2014:
Tencent Holdings [nipic.com] |
Rank on the full list: 37
Country: China
12-Month Sales Growth (%): 40.4
5-Year Annualized Total Return (%): 27.3
Innovation Premium (%): 43.1
This major internet company boasts two instant messaging tools -- Wechat and QQ -- with the highest number of users. This year, Tencent is working hard to challenge Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant. The company recently bought 58.com, a website similar to Craigslist, in addition to the stock rights for the search engine Sougou and the logistics company China South City Co. Ltd.