Microsoft Beats Nintendo, Sony in BusinessWeek's Most Innovative

BusinessWeek has released its "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" feature, which ranks innovators according to the votes of nearly 3,000 executives from the largest corporations around the globe; game manufacturer Microsoft ranked #5, above competitors Nintendo and Sony at #7 and #9 respectively. Incumbent Apple again topped the list. Microsoft's position is unchanged from last year, while Sony crept up one slot and Nintendo soared from last year's #39 rank. This marks the first year all three major console providers have been present in the top ten. However, of the three, only Microsoft was not cited for its game-related products - rather, BusinessWeek pointed to its Surface touch screen interface and efforts to catch up to #2-ranking Google in the internet search world. All three game companies were cited for their products, rather than for other options such as customer experience or processes. Despite its #7 slot, Nintendo tied with aerospace firm Boeing (#20) for the highest proportion of respondents, 63 percent, who believe its products are innovative.