In this article, we are going to list the 15 biggest tech companies in the world.
Technology can be defined as the application of scientific research or knowledge for practical use. Technology has made our lives easier and better in so many ways. We have a smartwatch that doesn’t only track calories burned but also acts as a phone where you can text or call. We have super smart refrigerators nowadays that have a tablet where you can customize your fridge. And then someone thought, “why don’t we have a dual-screen laptop yet?”, and boom, it’s finally here together with a dual-screen smartphone. It has become an integral part of our daily lives. Technology keeps getting better and we won’t see it stopping anytime soon.
Globally, business and government purchases of tech goods and services are projected to reach more than $3,590 billion this year. One of the largest key players in the tech industry is the software segment which is projected to reach over $900 billion global value. The global technology industry includes telecommunications services, technology outsourcing, and hardware services, technology consulting and system integration services, software, electronic equipment, and computers. The continuous demand for high-end computers, software, and smartphones is fueling the growth of the industry.
With the biggest tech players in the world, how far have we become? In 2017, we discovered in our 10 Most Advanced Technologies in the World Today article about Google’s partnership with Novartis in developing digital contact lenses that could help the diagnosis of diabetic patients. Unfortunately, the project didn’t make it due to consistency problems. On the other hand, one of the biggest tech companies in the world, IBM (NYSE: IBM) partnered with Watson to develop an AI-like project that could help businesses make solid decisions, both personally and professionally, and rebranded it as “augmented intelligence”. In 2019, IBM successfully launched Cognos Analytics. It is an intelligence platform that facilitates the entire analytical cycle, from discovery to implementation.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Technology has established its role in creating innovative solutions to fight (and even adapt) climate change. According to a report in CNET News, the warming of the Arctic could cause the sea ice to disappear by 2040. SmartIce developed climate change adaptation tools that combine conventional sea ice knowledge with advanced data acquisition and remote monitoring technologies. On the other hand, biotech companies are also gaining popularity as every biggest pharmaceutical is rushing to release a vaccine for COVID-19 such as AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). You can learn more about companies alike in our article about the 15 Largest Biotech Companies in the World.
The pandemic is causing widespread concern and economic distress for consumers, companies, and countries all around the globe. And COVID-19 only sped up the adoption of digital technologies. According to a McKinsey Global Survey, several businesses have increased the digitalization of their supply-chain interactions and the share of digitally enabled products has displayed positive results too. Remote work, contactless payment for goods and services, distance learning, telehealth, online shopping, and robot deliveries. This is the new normal: technology-fueled businesses, goods, our life in general.
Today, the market value of the top 5 technology companies is more than $7 trillion. If these 5 companies were combined to make a sovereign nation, their combined market value would be bigger than the GDPs of all nations except the United States and China. This is just the beginning though. ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood who made a name for herself by investing in disruptive technologies and generating huge returns believes artificial intelligence could add more than $30 trillion to the market capitalizations of all companies globally. Artificial intelligence is just one of the disruptive emerging technologies right now. The technological advancements in genetic testing and individualized medicine, fintech, 3D printing, energy storage, and robotics will transform our lives over the next couple of decades. The growth rate in these technologies is exponential and human mind usually can’t comprehend the speed and magnitude of exponential growth (this spring when the coronavirus was spreading exponential, the number of cases were growing by 1000x over a 4 week period, but most people couldn’t see that coming).
We are in the early innings of a huge technological transformation. If Cathie Wood is right about the speed of technological change, we can see the market value of biggest technology companies grow by 10x within a couple of decades. By the way, Wood’s biggest stock position in her portfolio is Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). She believes Tesla will beat GOOGL to self-driving car dominance.
In order to provide you the most accurate ranking of the biggest tech companies in the world, we gathered the financial figures such as revenue, market cap, and assets from each of the tech companies’ financial statements available. We also excluded Chinese companies from this list as their financial records aren’t reviewed by PCAOB. Some of the largest tech companies in the world are included in our 10 best tech stocks to invest in right now.
Here are the biggest tech companies in the world starting at number 15:
15. Nintendo Co Ltd.
Revenue in billion $: 11.2
Market Cap: $49.7 B
Assets: $17.5 B
Headquarter: Kyoto, Japan
Nintendo is a multinational consumer tech company in Japan that develops game consoles. The company mainly engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of entertainment products in the home entertainment field. Some of its winning products are Nintendo GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. Washington-based Nintendo of America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Nintendo of America is also popular for its legacy systems, NES and Game Boy.
Barone Firenze / Shutterstock.com
14. Adobe Inc (NASDAQ: ADBE)
Revenue in billion $: 11.6
Market Cap: $239.09 B
Assets: $21.2 B
Headquarter: San Jose, CA
Adobe Inc is one of the biggest tech companies in the world. The company is one of the largest developers of creating, managing, and distributing content through the cloud.
In 2019, Adobe Inc acquired Allegorithmic, the manufacturer of Substance, a tool for creating 3D textures and materials in-game and video post-production. Adobe plans to integrate Allegorithmic’s Material 3D modeling software with Creative Cloud’s photography, video, and motion graphics tools for video game developers, film and television visual effects makers, designers, and marketers.
Copyright: photogearch / 123RF Stock Photo
13. SAP (NYSE: SAP)
Revenue in billion $: 31.1
Market Cap: 120.82 B
Assets: $69.1 B
Headquarter: Walldorf, Germany
SAP SE offers a full range of enterprise application software and software services: from software licenses to cloud subscriptions and programs that run educational and professional services through the cloud. SAP boasts over 440,000 customers in more than 180 countries. The company also employs 101,450 people on its innovative operating sites worldwide.
In 2019, SAP acquired Qualtrics for $8 billion and Austrian-cloud giant, Emarsys for an undisclosed price to improve their overall customer experience.
12. Oracle (NYSE: ORCL)
Revenue in billion $: 39.8
Market Cap: $189.83 B
Assets: $96.7 B
Headquarter: Redwood, CA
Oracle is the second-largest software company in the world. Oracle provides IT software solutions to enterprises. The tech giant offers a variety of IT products such as analytics, autonomous database, database cloud services, and even hardware management. The most important acquisition of Oracle is Sun Microsystems with Java product lines for $7.4 billion.
Ken Wolter/shutterstock.com
11. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Revenue in billion $: 51.6
Market Cap: 189.64 B
Assets: 90.4 B
Headquarter: San Jose, CA
CSCO ranks 11th in our list of the biggest tech companies in the world. Cisco Systems, Inc. is engaged in the design, manufacture, and distribution of Internet Protocol-based networking products and services related to the communications and information technology sector. The company offers products for the transport of data, voice, and video inside buildings, across campuses, and globally. Cisco has established operations in 272 office locations across 88 countries.
In July 2019, in preparation for 5G and a rise in data usage, Cisco acquired Acacia Communications Inc. for $2.6 billion.
Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com
10. HP Inc (NYSE: HPQ)
Revenue in billion $: 58.4
Market Cap: $30.95 B
Assets: $31.7 B
Headquarter: Palo Alto, CA and Houston, TX
HP ranks 10th in our list of the biggest tech companies. Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is one of the largest computer companies in the world along with IBM. Its contribution to the tech industry includes hardware ranging from laptops to personal computers to supercomputers, software, networking products, printers, scanners, and maintenance and support services.
Back in 2002, HP acquired Compaq in an all-stock deal for $25 billion.
Pixabay/Public Domain
9. Facebook (NASDAQ: FB)
Revenue in billion $: 73.4
Market Cap: $776.99 B
Assets: $138.4 B
Headquarter: Menlo Park, CA
Ah, the biggest social networking site is undoubtedly one of the biggest tech companies in the world! As of the second quarter of 2020, Facebook has over 2.7 billion monthly active users. Yes, Facebook is a social networking platform where you can connect to your friends, share cute puppy posts, and sure, play browser-based games. On the business side, Facebook has a marketplace where you can buy and sell almost anything under the sun- house, car, smartphones, food products, and a lot more!
Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, now worth over $100 billion, and Whatsapp in 2014 for $14 billion.
8. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC)
Revenue in billion $: 75.7
Market Cap: $189.98 B
Assets: $147.7 B
Headquarter: Santa Clara, CA
Intel Corp. is specializing in the development, manufacture, and sale of electronic software and technologies. Intel is one of the biggest tech companies in the world as it fuels the most powerful PCs and laptops with their processors and chipset products. The company also provides computers, networking, data storage, and communications networks.
In 2019, Intel Corporation acquired an Israel-based developer of deep-learning accelerators for data centers namely Habana Labs. The merger enhances Intel’s portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI) and expands its efforts in the emerging, AI silicone market, which Intel anticipates to be over $25 billion by 2024.
Pixabay/Public Domain
7. IBM Corp (NYSE: IBM)
Revenue in billion $: 77.1
Market Cap: $109.95 B
Assets: $153.4 B
Headquarter: Armonk, NY
IBM ranks 7th in our list of the biggest technology companies in the world. IBM is an American computer, technology, and IT consulting corporation established in New York. IBM develops and distributes computer hardware and software and provides infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services in various fields from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.
IBM is super powering its cloud services as it has recently acquired a European-cloud consulting startup, Nordcloud. In 2018, IBM bought Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) for $34 billion.
6. Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE)
Revenue in billion $: 79.2
Market Cap: $78.7 B
Assets: $208.3 B
Headquarter: Tokyo, Japan
Sony specializes in the production, design, manufacture, and sale of various types of electronic equipment, tools, and devices, technical and industrial markets, as well as game consoles and software. This year, Sony reported an approximate 2.5 million units of the game console on their launch dates.
5. Dell Inc (NYSE: DELL)
Revenue in billion $: 91.9
Market Cap: $54.78 B
Assets: $118.9 B
Headquarter: Round Rack, TX
Dell Technologies Inc. manufactures electronic devices. The company sells computers, desktops, tablets, workstations, servers, displays, printers, gateways, applications, storage, and network services. Aside from producing top of the line computers, The company also offers information management and cybersecurity solutions; cloud computing and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions that allow customers to migrate, run and manage mission-critical applications in a cloud-based IT environment.
In 2016, Dell acquired EMC for a whopping $64 billion for an all-stock-deal. The acquisition was to make it easier for Dell to become a one-stop-shop for business customers. The combined Dell EMC was named after Dell Technologies.
Sergiy Palamarchuk/Shutterstock.com
4. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Revenue in billion $: 125
Market Cap: $1.68 T
Assets: $285.4 B
Headquarter: Redmond, WA
If you’re not a Macbook user, you’re probably using a laptop or desktop with Microsoft OS running on it. Microsoft is the largest software company in the world. Microsoft Corporation designs produce licenses and support software products. Microsoft sells software for operating systems, server application software, enterprise, and user applications, software development tools, and internet and intranet software.
The largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history is when the company bought business and employment platform, LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016. Microsoft also acquired video chat and communications service platform, Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion.
Pixabay/Public Domain
3. Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Revenue in billion $: 162 billion
Market Cap: $1.17 T
Assets: $131.1 B
Headquarter: Mountain View, CA
Alphabet, Inc. is a holding firm engaged in the acquisition and management of various businesses. From Youtube to various members of the Google family such as Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google ads. Did you know that Google owns over 70% of the search market share? Google ads can convert sales better than organic traffic. Google ads is a search advertising network valued at $38 billion. If that ain’t investment-worthy for you then I don’t know what is.
In 2006, Google acquired the biggest online video-sharing platform, Youtube for $1.65 billion and is now valued at approximately $160 billion.
2. Samsung Electronics (SSNHY)
Revenue in billion $: 197.6
Market Cap: $278.7 B
Assets: $304.9 B
Headquarter: Seoul, South Korea
Samsung is a South Korean multinational that is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic devices in the world. Yes, we all know Samsung is one of the biggest tech companies in the world as they are popular for their flagship phones. Samsung engages in the manufacture of a wide range of retail and wholesale electronics, including digital media products, semiconductors, memory chips, and integrated systems. Samsung also offers a smart automation home system called SmartThings where you can control your security system, lights, and security cameras through voice command using just a single app. Samsung acquired smart home and IoT applications startup, SmartThings in 2014 for approximately $200 million.
1. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Revenue in billion $: 267.7
Market Cap: $2.18 T
Assets: $320.4 B
Headquarter: Cupertino, CA
Topping the list of the 15 biggest tech companies in the world is Apple. Apple Inc. develops, produces, and markets mobile communications and media products, personal computers, and portable digital music players. The company sells a range of related software, services, accessories, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications.
Apple has grown to be the largest tech company in the world as of today: from iPod to iPhones, Apple Watch, iPad, and the top of the line Macs. With each launch, Apple has kept its intensely loyal customers on the verge of awaiting the next big breakthrough and the next innovative updates to their devices.
Have you heard of Apple’s revival of Project Titan? The biggest tech in the world might be releasing their first electric and high-end automated car for mass production in 2024! In 2018, Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of the biggest automated electric car company Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stated that he once tried selling a portion of Tesla to Apple during the darkest path of the company sometime in 2018 where Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to take the meeting.
Please see also, 15 Biggest Software Companies In The World and 15 Largest AI companies in the World.
guteksk7/Shutterstock.com
Suggested articles:
originally published at Insider Monkey.
