The world runs on technology. And behind the devices, apps and services we use every day are a select group of companies whose size and influence can be hard to comprehend. In this deep dive, we‘ll put the spotlight on the biggest of the big – the titans of tech whose innovation and competition is shaping the future across every sector of the digital economy.
Largest Computer and Smartphone Company: Apple
Let‘s start with a company that needs no introduction. Apple is not just the largest tech company in the world – it is the most valuable company period, with a market cap north of $2 trillion. But it‘s not just about scale. Apple‘s outsized influence comes from its unrivaled ability to merge groundbreaking hardware, elegant software, and a tightly integrated ecosystem to create delightful user experiences.
Apple essentially created the modern smartphone category with the iPhone. It reinvented the tablet with the iPad. Its Macs and MacBooks are the gold standard in premium personal computing. Wearables like the Apple Watch and AirPods are best-sellers. And services like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Pay extend its reach even further.
Consider these mind-boggling stats:
- iPhone sales topped $137 billion in 2020 alone (not a typo) – more than the total revenue of most Fortune 500 companies
- Over 1.65 billion Apple devices are currently active worldwide
- The App Store ecosystem generated over $500 billion in billings and sales in 2019
- Apple‘s Wearables business alone is now the size of a Fortune 120 company
So what makes Apple tick? A relentless focus on the user experience. Deep hardware-software integration. Incredible brand loyalty. And a willingness to stay at the premium end of the market vs. racing to the bottom on price.
But Apple is not without challenges. iPhone sales have plateaued as the global smartphone market matures. Regulatory scrutiny is mounting around the App Store and Apple‘s control of its ecosystem. And the company is still searching for its next major hit after the iPhone – whether that‘s AR glasses, self-driving cars, or something else entirely.
Largest Computer Company: Dell
Apple may get all the buzz, but it‘s not the only giant in the PC market. Dell has long been a leader in desktops, laptops and workstations, with a track record of innovation dating back to its pioneering "configure to order" direct sales model.
In recent years, Dell has further expanded its reach through big acquisitions. In 2016, it acquired data storage leader EMC for $67 billion in the largest tech deal in history. This brought Dell a strong enterprise storage and server business, as well as an 81% stake in cloud computing and virtualization software provider VMware.
Key Dell stats:
- $92 billion in revenue in fiscal 2020
- Shipped over 50 million PCs in 2020, putting it in a virtual tie with HP for the #2 spot globally behind Lenovo
- Over 70% of Dell‘s revenue now comes from commercial clients vs. consumer
- Dell holds over 20,000 patents worldwide
So while Dell may be best known for PCs, it has diversified into a broad-based IT infrastructure provider. Beyond hardware, it offers software, cloud, security and managed services to help businesses with their digital transformation. And its shift towards a subscription-based, as-a-service recurring revenue model is designed to offset the volatility of hardware product cycles.
Largest Cloud Computing and AI Company: Microsoft
Two words define the modern Microsoft: cloud and AI. Under CEO Satya Nadella, the Redmond software giant has reinvented itself for a mobile-first, cloud-first world, emerging as the clear #2 behind Amazon Web Services in the booming cloud infrastructure market.
At the same time, Microsoft has gone all-in on artificial intelligence, weaving it into all of its products and services. From AI-powered business intelligence in Microsoft 365 to conversational AI in the Xiaoice chatbot to machine learning tools in Azure, Microsoft aims to democratize AI for every organization and individual.
The results speak for themselves:
- Azure revenue surged 50% year-over-year in fiscal Q2 2021
- Microsoft 365 (including Office 365) now has over 300 million paid seats
- The Xbox gaming ecosystem now has over 100 million monthly active users
- Microsoft‘s market value has more than tripled under Nadella‘s tenure, hitting $1.8 trillion
Of course, Microsoft still has plenty of irons in the fire beyond cloud and AI. Windows is still the dominant PC operating system. Surface device sales are growing double-digits. The acquisition of LinkedIn brought a valuable professional network and data asset. And HoloLens is an early leader in the nascent mixed reality market.
But the existential threat that Microsoft faces is the gradual erosion of the PC as the center of the computing universe. To stay relevant in a world of smartp hones, wearables and IoT devices, Microsoft must become a cross-platform ecosystem player – and that means nailing the cloud and AI that will power the next generation of computing.
Largest Digital Advertising Company: Google
It‘s hard to believe now, but Google‘s business model was far from obvious in its early days. Fast forward to 2021, and digital advertising on Google‘s sites and networks generated a staggering $147 billion for parent Alphabet last year – over 80% of its total revenue.
The secret sauce? Google‘s unparalleled ability to match ads to user intent at massive scale. Whenever you search for something on Google, watch a YouTube video, or check Gmail, you are providing valuable data that Google can use to put relevant ads in front of you. And as more of our lives have moved online and more purchases start with a Google search, Google‘s ad business has become the stuff of legend:
- Google sites (Search, YouTube, etc.) generated over $104 billion in ad revenue in 2020
- YouTube ad revenue hit $19.7 billion in 2020, up 30% from 2019
- Google‘s network members‘ properties (AdSense, AdMob, etc.) generated $23 billion in 2020
- eMarketer estimates Google controls 29% of the total digital ad market globally
But Google‘s dominance in search and digital advertising has not come without controversy. Critics argue that Google‘s control of user data and ability to favor its own properties gives it an unfair advantage. Multiple antitrust lawsuits have been filed. And the rise of Amazon as a starting point for product search poses a growing threat to Google‘s ad business model.
To diversify beyond advertising, Google has made big bets in emerging areas like cloud computing, self-driving cars, and life sciences. But so far, these "other bets" remain a small (and money-losing) part of the overall business. To stay on top, Google must continue to innovate in AI – the driving force behind its search, ad targeting, and all its other moonshots.
Largest Social Media Company: Facebook
When people talk about social media giants, they usually mean Facebook. With 2.7 billion monthly active users across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, no other social network comes close to its global reach and engagement.
That scale translates into a highly profitable advertising business:
- Facebook generated $84.2 billion in ad revenue in 2020, up 21% from 2019
- The average revenue per user hit $32.03 in Q4 2020, up 19% from Q4 2019
- Over 200 million businesses use Facebook‘s tools, and over 10 million advertise on the platform
Facebook‘s treasure trove of user data and ability to micro-target ads give it a significant competitive advantage. But with great data comes great responsibility. Data privacy scandals, misinformation, and toxic content have plagued Facebook in recent years. Regulators are circling. And a growing number of users, particularly younger ones, are turning to alternative platforms.
Under fire, Facebook is attempting to turn the page by rebranding as "Meta" and going all-in on the metaverse – a vision of an immersive, embodied version of the internet powered by VR and AR. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has staked his legacy on this bold bet, investing billions and reorganizing the entire company around it. Only time will tell if the Meta pivot pays off.
Largest Semiconductor Company: TSMC
At the beating heart of the digital world lies a component most of us never see but couldn‘t live without: the semiconductor. And at the heart of the semiconductor industry sits an unassuming Taiwanese founder whose company has quietly become the most important manufacturing firm in the world: TSMC.
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) pioneered the foundry model, focusing solely on manufacturing chips designed by other companies. And it has perfected it, counting Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD and hundreds of others as clients. A few key stats show just how dominant TSMC has become:
- TSMC controls over half of the global semiconductor foundry market
- It manufactures over 90% of the world‘s most advanced chips (10 nanometers or smaller)
- Over 85% of the world‘s graphics chips and most smartphone processors are manufactured by TSMC
- TSMC plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years to maintain its lead
TSMC‘s rise is a story of visionary leadership, relentless execution, and being in the right place at the right time as the digital revolution drove insatiable demand for smaller, faster, more efficient chips. But it also highlights the risks of geographic concentration in such a vital industry. As tensions between China and Taiwan mount, the specter of disruption looms.
Largest Enterprise Software Company: Salesforce
The name Salesforce is practically synonymous with cloud computing. More than any other company, Salesforce sparked the enterprise shift to the cloud, growing from dot-com era startup to $21 billion software titan in the process.
In many ways, the Salesforce story encapsulates the larger move from on-premise, licensed software to cloud-based, subscription software delivered as a service. But Salesforce didn‘t just ride this wave – it created it, pioneering concepts like multi-tenant architecture, end user personalization, and an app ecosystem that are now standard.
The numbers are impressive:
- Salesforce is the #1 provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software globally, with over 20% market share
- It has over 150,000 customers, including 83% of the Fortune 500
- Its average contract duration is 2.8 years, and it boasts a retention rate over 90%
- Its ecosystem is 4x the size of Salesforce itself and will create over 9 million jobs by 2025
But Salesforce is not content to dominate CRM alone. Through organic innovation and over $30 billion in acquisitions, it has expanded into adjacent markets like service, marketing, commerce, integration, analytics and more. The goal: To provide a complete, unified view of the customer that empowers companies to deliver personalized experiences across every touchpoint.
As digital transformation accelerates, Salesforce is well positioned to be the digital HQ for every company. But it faces increased competition from giants like Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, as well as upstarts like Zoom and Twilio that threaten to undermine its platform. Sustained growth will require winning the next generation of cloud customers in an increasingly crowded field.
Final Thoughts
The companies profiled here are just a sampling of the digital titans reshaping every corner of business and society. But they illustrate some of the key themes driving the industry:
- The shift from products to platforms and ecosystems
- The power of data, AI, and the network effect
- The rise of mobile, cloud and the as-a-service model
- The blurring of lines between sectors like hardware, software, media, and telecom
- The growing techlash and specter of regulation
As an industry expert and passionate technologist, I‘m in awe of what these companies have built. But I‘m even more excited for what comes next. Because if one thing is certain, it‘s that the pace of technological change is accelerating. New breakthroughs in AI, 5G, IoT, quantum computing and biotech are coming fast. Billions of people are still coming online for the first time.
So while the giants of today will surely play a major role in shaping our digital future, they will also face increased competition – from well-funded startups, global platform companies, and each other. Ultimately, that‘s good news for innovation, and for all of us who believe in the power of technology to invent a better future.
I can‘t wait to see what that future holds. Because if the last few decades have taught us anything, it‘s that when it comes to digital transformation, we‘re only just getting started. The real disruption and opportunity still lies ahead.
