Apple Inc, has retained the top position in the Fortune's annual list of Top 50 World's Most Admired Companies for the sixth consecutive year, ahead of Google and Amazon.

"Apple has had a rough time lately with its stock price in a free fall and the widely publicized failure of its Maps feature. However, it remains a financial juggernaut, posting $13 billion in net income last quarter, making it the most profitable company in the world during that period," said Fortune.

Fortune also said "Apple has its fanatical customer base, and it still refuses to compete on price, making the iconic iPhone and iPad products that are still widely seen as prestige devices. Competition may be stiff, but so far it remains behind: In Q4 2012, the iPhone 5 was the world's best selling smartphone, followed in second place by the iPhone 4S."

Google and Amazon ranks second and third place respectively and IBM has made its place at sixth position. Apple's major competitors such as Microsoft and Samsung ranks at 17^th and 35^th place respectively, while some well known companies like Intel ranked at 42^nd, eBay on 47^th, Facebook and Cisco ranks 48 and 49 respectively.

Fortune listed 1800 companies with revenue above $10 billion and 400 companies were chosen outside the U.S. The ratings were based on research that asked directors, executives and analysts from various industries in more than 30 countries to rank the companies on criteria like innovation, quality of management and financial soundness.

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