The global tech industry is booming, and major players are emerging around the world. In the United States, tech giants like Amazon and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) remain dominant, but there are other regions with thriving ecosystems as well.
To help you track the latest developments in the sector, we’ve analyzed some key metrics for 596 tech companies operating across 183 countries. Together these companies control a staggering 54% of the market.
This concentration isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though It means that there’s plenty of room for new entrants to grow their market share and challenge established powerhouses.
If you want to see where your local tech scene ranks against the rest of the world, keep reading for insights on the biggest names in technology today. The tech industry is one of the most dynamic fields in modern society, and it’s no surprise that there are now so many companies operating within it. Every day, new firms come online with new ideas and services to offer.
Tech giants take their time establishing themselves as well. It can take decades for a company to generate enough value to be included on this list. To help you keep track of the industry’s trends, we’ve compiled a list of the 8 biggest tech companies in the world right now.
Whether they’re operating globally or headquartered in a specific country, these digital titans all have one thing in common, they’re poised to change how people live their day-to-day lives by providing them with vital hardware and software solutions.
1. Apple
Apple is a California-based multinational corporation that designs, markets, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. The company’s products are intended to increase the capacity of individuals, as well as institutions, to perform specific tasks, and to understand underlying concepts more readily.
The iPhone is a smartphone that runs Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, and is the most popular mobile phone in the world. The iPhone has been a central part of Apple’s strategy to expand and consolidate its presence in business and society.
Apple’s online services include the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, and iOS Developer Enterprise Program. Apple also provides custom software solutions through the Apple Consulting Services Program, including strategy, planning, and research.
As of February 2016, Apple was estimated to be the most valuable brand in the world, with a value of $163 billion.
2. Google
Google is an American multinational technology company specializing in search engine technology, Google Search, advertising services, and offering other online digital services. It is considered one of the Big Four technology companies, alongside Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple.
Google’s advertising program, known as Google AdWords, is an online advertising program that allows advertisers to place text, video, animation, and other ads on Google, along with surrounding text or other ad space around the web page.
this advertising program was launched in March 2000, and was one of the first successful online advertising programs. Google’s other services include Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Hangouts, Google Photos, Google Fit, and Google Wifi.
3. Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational corporation and the largest online retailer in the world. Amazon is an e-commerce business, in the sense that it does not maintain inventory and instead buys products (from sellers) at the prevailing market price and sells them to customers (usually through its website).
Amazon.com was founded by Jeffrey P. Bezos on July 5, 1994, as a business website. In 1994, Bezos placed a sales ad on the site offering books for sale using a new e-commerce system he had invented, and soon thereafter, the site went online.
In July 1995, Bezos placed a new ad on the site offering books pertaining to his divorce from his first wife, MacKenzie Bezos. The site mainly provided books to the Kindle reader, a device owned by the Amazon.com subsidiary, Amazon Digital Services.
4. Facebook, Inc.
Facebook is an American for-profit corporation and an online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California, that features social connections and communication between people.
In 2013, it was estimated that there were 2.2 billion people who had an account on Facebook, and the average person creates about 130 individual profiles on the site.
The site also provides other social services, such as online advertisements, chat functionality, and mobile application downloads.
Facebook’s origins date back to 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg created a social study tool at Harvard University, where he was a student, called “The Harvard social study tool”.
He later brought the tool to other Harvard campus computers, and later expanded it to other colleges. Facebook gradually incorporated more features, eventually growing into a ubiquitous online presence.
5. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Corporation)
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational electronics company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, next-generation digital media and telecommunications systems, mobile phones, ambitiously advanced materials, and electro-mechanical systems.
The company was founded by Lee Byung-chap in 1938 as a trading company, and began production of briquettes in 1945. After the Korean War, the company began production of transistorized radios for the military, as well as televisions, air conditioners, and a diverse range of other products.
During the 1968 Soviet Apollo program failure, Samsung diversified into aerospace, with the acquisition of Samsung Aerospace, which was responsible for manufacturing components for the Apollo program. After the acquisition of Roksan, Samsung began producing components for commercial aircraft.
6. Twitter, Inc.
Twitter Inc. is an online platform for news and information sharing, created through the encouraged usage of short messages, known as “tweets”, which are limited to 140 characters.
The service was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Noah Twist, and officially launched in September 2006. The service rapidly rose in popularity, and in September 2007, an estimated 6.5 million users were registered with the service.
In February 2012, Twitter announced that it had surpassed the 100 million user mark. Around this time, the company began expanding its headquarters with the intent of turning it into a modern tech hub.
7. Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington, USA. This company is the world’s largest software maker, with a market capitalization of $957 billion as of October 2018.
It produces computer software, consumer electronics, and online services. Its products include Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Xbox, Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Xbox Live, Microsoft Xbox Game Pass, Azure cloud computing platform, and LinkedIn.
Microsoft’s products are used by over 1.3 billion active users, and more than 3.3 billion devices are running its software. Microsoft was founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates on April 4, 1975, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
After developing BASIC, Allen and Gates entered the business world with a sales demonstration of their interpreter of a BASIC-based computer programming language to IBM, who later adopted the interpreter and sold IBM-compatible machines to use it.
Microsoft, whose name is pronounced “mash-in”, officially entered the computer business in August 1977, with the release of the Altair 8800. Since that time, Microsoft has undergone dramatic changes, both in the way it operates as a corporation and its product line as well as its focus on the market. Microsoft’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange and is owned by large institutional investors. It is one of the most valuable companies in the world.
8. IBM Corporation
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, with operations in over 170 countries.
The company was founded in 1911 as “International Business Machines Corporation”, incorporated on March 12, 1919, and elected to the S&P 500 Index on April 26, 1957.
IBM is a manufacturer of computer hardware and software, including the IBM computer system, which was the world’s first commercial computer.
Its principal commercial products included the IBM mainframe, Information Management (CMMS or enterprise resource management systems), and S/360 models.
IBM has been an industry leader in research and development of computer hardware and software. And has received many awards for its engineering achievements within the computing field.
Conclusion
The tech industry is growing at a rapid pace, and the number of new companies coming online is increasing. The industry is also experiencing new technologies, advancements, and trends.
The 8 companies on this list are among the biggest and most influential tech companies in the world. These companies are also poised to change how people live their day-to-day lives by providing them with vital hardware and software solutions.
