"Market Cap Leader Nvidia, Brand Awareness Still Low"

Artificial intelligence (AI) chip manufacturer Nvidia recently surpassed Microsoft (MS) and Apple to become the company with the highest market capitalization, but its brand awareness remains low, CNBC reported on the 23rd (local time).

CNBC pointed out that Nvidia did not make it into the top 100 in the global brand ranking survey conducted by Interbrand, a global brand consulting firm, at the end of last year.

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At the time of the survey, Apple and MS, which are currently competing with Nvidia for the top spot in market capitalization rankings, ranked first and second respectively. Amazon was third, Google fourth, and Samsung Electronics fifth.

CNBC noted that although Nvidia's corporate value has risen very sharply, its relatively limited consumer touchpoints have prevented a significant increase in brand awareness. Nvidia, which manufactures graphics processing units (GPUs) for computers, was mainly known among gamers until 2022, before the generative AI boom.

Greg Silverman, director at Interbrand, said, "As a manufacturer that has recently entered the global stage, Nvidia has had neither the time nor the resources to strengthen its brand and protect future earnings," adding, "Even with a high market capitalization, weak brand power will limit future value growth." However, he mentioned that Nvidia's brand awareness has quadrupled over the past 12 months, and the ranking announced in the second half of this year is expected to rise significantly.

In the 100 top global brands ranking released this month by another brand consulting firm, Kantar Brands, Nvidia rose 18 places from the previous survey to rank 6th.

CNBC reported that Nvidia's brand value is estimated to have increased by 178% in one year, reaching approximately $202 billion (about 281 trillion won).

Mark Globeski, senior brand strategist at Kantar Brands, stated, "For B2B (business-to-business) buyers, Nvidia is a very important and meaningful brand," adding, "It is the same as Apple is to consumers purchasing iPads or Macs."