Asia leads world in most innovative companies. - On Thursday 6 November, Thomson Reuters Consultants provided its fourth annual Top 100 Global Innovators list, for 2014. The US chemicals group, 3M Company (1st), occupied top position, the Swiss industrial company, ABB (2nd) and US pharmaceuticals company, Abbott Laboratories (3rd). In an effort to draw up its list, Thomson Reuters, took into account, not only the number of patents but also their quality (measured by the number of patent rates effectively validated by the patents office) and their international scope and influence (the number of times a patent is mentioned by other sources making requests). Japan and the US led the 2014 list, with 39 and 25 companies and research bodies listed respectively. Nonetheless, with 46 undertakings included in the list in total, Asia has become the region of the world with the highest number of companies represented, with the US losing 10 undertakings from this list over a 12-month period. Until now, China has not been included in the list of top innovative companies but now has one company included on it, the telecommunications group, Huawei. The other Asian companies included in it are from South Korea (four companies) and Taiwan (two companies). There are 18 European companies on the list (seven from France, five from Switzerland, four from Germany, one from the Netherlands and another from Sweden), with the notable absence of the United Kingdom. Asian domination is also accompanied by an increasing presence in the electronics and semi-conductors sectors (21 companies), information technology equipment (13 companies) and telecommunications (seven companies), sectors that are rapidly developing, often with a very short product cycle. Major smart phone producers are also well represented with Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Google and Blackberry, which are all providing competition in the innovation arena. On the other hand, the car, aerospace and transport sectors are increasingly less represented, with the oil industry totally absent, with the departure this year of its two last remaining representatives Exxon Mobil and Chevron. The pharmaceuticals industry was totally absent in 2012 but reappeared this year with four companies included on the list. The Swiss company Novartis is a new market entrant this year, together with its fellow Swiss firm, Roche and the US companies Abbott and Johnson & Johnson, which were already on the list last year. Once again, the list demonstrates that investment in R&D are the key to economic success, according to Thomson Reuters. The top 100 companies listed spent around $208 million in this sector in 2013, the equivalent of a 16.9% increase in 2013, compared to the previous year. This is more than the average of companies quoted on the NASDAQ and four times as much as those in the S&P500. These companies also generated revenue worth $3.69 billion. (IL)