Samsung Electronics placed at 19th on this year's ranking of the top 100 global brands, the only South Korean company to make the list.

Austria-based European Brand Institute(EBI) recently released its ranking of the 100 most valuable brands worldwide, placing Samsung at 19th, up four notches from a year earlier. 

The tech giant's brand value was estimated at 39-point-three billion euros or 50-point-four trillion won this year, up about 12 percent from a year earlier. 

U.S. tech giants Apple, Google and Microsoft swept the top three places, while 12 Chinese companies made the list. 

By country, the U.S. topped the list with 48 American firms, followed by China, Germany and Britain.