Apple is the "most admired" company in the United States, according to the business publication Fortune. In tandem with Hay Group the magazine says it has surveyed some 3,700 people in "dozens" of industries, and asked them to name the 10 American companies they most respect. Apple's prominence on the list is attributed in no small part to its $24 billion worth, but also to its influence on a multitude of industries, including music, movies and cellphones.

This in turn is connected to the return of CEO Steve Jobs and the invention of the iPod, which has been a runaway success and spearheaded Apple's new sales model, which encourages people to buy similarly-branded products because they function better together than with third-party offerings. Jobs tells Fortune, however, that Apple does no market research, and in fact just wants to "make great products."

"When we created the iTunes Music Store," says Jobs, "we did it because we thought it would be great to be able to buy music electronically, not because we had plans to redefine the music industry.”

Competition on the Most Admired list includes the holding conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, at number two, and General Electric, occupying third place. Google ranks fourth, while other corporations on the list include Toyota, Starbucks and Microsoft. Two prominent companies, Pepsi and Wal-Mart, have fallen off the list since last year's survey.