Google has snatched Apple’s title as the world’s most valuable brand, ending the iPhone maker’s five-year reign.

According to a study by valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance, published on Wednesday, the monetary value of Google’s brand rose by 24 per cent last year to $109.5bn, propelling it to the top spot for the first time since 2011.

Apple’s value fell from $145.9bn in the previous year to $107.1bn.

“[Google] remains largely unchallenged in its core search business, which is the mainstay of its advertising income,” Brand Finance wrote in its report.

David Haigh, chief executive officer of Brand Finance, commented that Apple has recently struggled to maintain its technological advantage over rivals.

“New iterations of the iPhone have delivered diminishing returns and there are signs that the company has reached a saturation point for its brand,” he said.

“The Chinese market, where Apple has enjoyed a dominant market share, is becoming far more competitive with local players entering the market in a meaningful way.”

But late Tuesday, before Brand Finance’s sturdy was published, Apple posted forecast-beating results for the most recent quarter, reclaiming the throne as the world’s top smartphone seller for the first time in five years – even beating arch rival Samsung.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported in January better-than-expected revenue for the most recent quarter thanks to a fast-growing cloud-computing business and booming YouTube video advertising, but profits were hit by a one-off tax payment.

The study of 500 brands deemed Amazon the third most valuable, at $106.4bn, followed by AT&T at $87bn and Microsoft at $76.3bn. Facebook claimed the ninth spot in the rankings with a value of a slither under $62bn.

In Wednesday’s report Brand Finance also crowned Lego the world’s most powerful brand, which is defined as one whose enterprise value is most positively impacted by the strength of its brand.

The study found that much of the Danish family-owned company’s success is owed to its partnerships with the Star Wars, Harry Potter and Batman franchises.

Other brands that made it into the top five “powerful” ranking included Google, Nike, Ferrari and Visa.

Walt Disney, which nabbed the title of most powerful brand last year, fell to sixth place.

The world’s most valuable brands Show all 10 1 /10 The world’s most valuable brands The world’s most valuable brands 1st - Google Google replaced Apple as the world’s most valuable brand, with a brand value of $109.5bn, according to Brand Finance The world’s most valuable brands 2nd - Apple Apple’s brand value declined from $145.9bn to $107.1bn in 2016 The world’s most valuable brands 3rd - Amazon Amazon's brand value rose from $69.6bn to $106.4bn in 2016 Amazon The world’s most valuable brands 4th - At&t Of the 40 telecoms brands in the ranking, AT&T in 2016 overtook Verizon as the most valuable brand rising to $87bn from $59.9bn the year before The world’s most valuable brands 5th - Microsoft Microsoft's brand value rose marginally from $67.3bn to $76.3bn in 2016 The world’s most valuable brands 6th - Samsung Amazon's brand value rose from $58.6bn to $66.2bn The world’s most valuable brands 7th - Verizon Verizon's brand value inched up from $63.1bn to $65.9bn The world’s most valuable brands 8th - Walmart Walmart's brand value rose from $53.6bn to $62.5bn The world’s most valuable brands 9th - Facebook Facebook's brand value increased sharply from $34bn to just shy of $62bn The world’s most valuable brands 10th - ICBC ICBC saw its brand value rise to $47.8bn from $36.3bn. It was the most valuabe financial brand in the world in 2016 replacing Wells Fargo

“This may be because its 2016 Star Wars release was a spin-off and less successful than 2015’s reboot of the main franchise, one of the highest grossing films of all time,” Brand Finance wrote in the report.