The Fast Company magazine presents its new rating of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. In mid-February, they published the 2011 list, giving short descriptions to their picks. Apple scoops first place, pushing the digital giants Twitter, Facebook and Google to the 2nd, 3rd and 6th place correspondingly—with Intel, Microsoft, Linkedin,eBay, IBM and Cisco resting below them. The sport and fashion apparel industry is presented by Burberry (No.13, “for breathing new life into a luxury stronghold”), Nike (No.23, “for its mix of sports, style, and yes, plastic bottles”), Opening Ceremony (No. 28) the food and drinks business has two representatives—PepsiCo (No.33)—“for its ambitious nutrition R&D” and chocolate company Madécasse (No.50).

Here’s the list of top 10 companies:

1. Apple—For dominating the business landscape, in 101 ways (last year—3)
2. Twitter—For five years of explosive growth that have redefined communication (last year—50)
3. Facebook—For 600 million users, despite Hollywood (last year—1)
4. Nissan—For creating the Leaf, the first mass- market all- electric car
5. Groupon—For reinvigorating retail — and turning down $6 billion.
6. Google—For instantly upgrading the search experience (last year—4)
7. Dawning Information Industry—For building the world’s fastest supercomputer
8. Netflix—For streaming itself into a $9 billion powerhouse (and crushing Blockbuster) (last year—12)
9. Zynga—For being the $500 million alpha dog of social gaming
10. Epocrates—For giving doctors and nurses instant drug reference

Click to see the rest.

“The 50 companies on our 2011 list have chosen a unique path. Today’s business landscape is littered with heritage companies whose CEOs battle their industry’s broken model with inertia, layoffs, lawsuits—anything that squeezes pennies and delays the inevitable. How many of these companies will be dominant in 2025? Few. That world will be ruled by the kinds of companies on this list. They’re nondogmatic, willing to scrap conventional ideas,” states the magazine.

Fast Company also published a list of top-tens in 6 key industries (in the brackets we indicate the companies which top the lists): Advertising (Wieden+Kennedy), Biotech (Amyris), Design (Stamen Design), Fashion (Burberry), Mobile (Foursquare), and Music (Pandora). The links to the ratings can are featured here.