Apple is now the eighth most valuable brand in the world says a recent Bloomberg report that ranks the top 100 global brands. The brand rankings use five unnamed criteria and exclude privately-held companies. Brand value includes the name, logo, image, and other intangibles which identifies a company to a consumer.

The top ten list is heavily dominated by technology firms including IBM, Microsoft, Google, Intel and HP. Apple trails IBM, Microsoft, Google, Intel, but comes out ahead of number ten HP.

Apple's brand value stands at US$33.493 billion, up from $21.143 billion in 2010. Apple increased its value 58% year over year, climbing from 17th place last year to 8th this year. The company's momentum shows no sign of slowing down, and may climb even further up the ladder in 2012.

[Via AppleInsider]