Apple remains on top of the list of the most valuable brands in the world, outpacing not only Google, IBM, and Microsoft but as well as food and beverage giants such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's. The value of the Cupertino-based company grew by just one percent since the last year and is now worth $185 billion.

This information was revealed by the BrandZ Top 100 Most Global Brand for 2013 released by Milward Brown Optimor, Tuesday. The combined value of the brands totaled $2.6 trillion, reflecting a growth of seven percent since last year.

According to a report on Market Week, the current value of Apple can be attributed to the balance of its strength in local and other markets, diversification into new business areas, and positioning the brand as either an everyday or premium brand.  The analysis took note that the growth of Apple significantly slowed down, registering only a one percent growth this year,  due to a drop in its stock price and negative sentiment of investors.

"What we see with the most popular or powerful brands is that brand lasts a lot longer, is more robust and doesn't tend to slip as much, whereas the finances go up and down," explains Peter Walshe, global director of BrandZ.

In a report on Forbes, VP Robin Headlee of Millward Brown shared some insights. He explained Apple may have retained its position on top but Google and Samsung are trying to narrow the gap. Google, now worth $114 billion, overtook IBM and became the second most valuable brand in the world. Google showed a five percent gain this year compared to a three percent decline last year. The search engine giant has transformed its brand so it can compete in other service and product areas.

Samsung is worth $21 billion today and has shown a great balancing act for its innovations and significant spending. The Korean gadgets manufacturer spent more in the United States for its smartphone marketing than Apple. It posted a growth of 51 percent.

"Even though there was a nasty recession and even strong brands were losing share price value at that point, these brands didn't lose as much and recovered a lot quicker. Brands are worth investing in, they're worth looking after because they give you a much better return," Walshe added.

Apple had also grabbed the top spot of the BrandZ list in 2011 and 2012.

Communication services firm WPP has a nice infographic about this year's list: