Top 10 World’s Most Valuable Technology Companies in 2020
Nowadays, technology is one of the most powerful sectors shaping the global economy, driving changes, and setting trends. So here, we will tell you about the world’s biggest technology companies that rule the world. The rating is relevant for August 7, 2020.
Our list includes the largest companies from different fields of the digital industry, like software, hardware, media,E-commerce, telecommunications, and others.
The ranking is based on the market capitalization of the digital giants. But further in this article, you can also find the shortlist of top twenty tech companies rated by revenue and employee number.
Those companies are;
1. Microsoft
Microsoft is one of the largest technology company, due to its market capitalization of more than $1.6 trillion. It is also one of the most expensive companies and brands worldwide.
The internationally famous corporation was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They suggested using packaged software for home computers to make PC experience easy, user-friendly, and intuitive. And so, the Windows operating system was born. It brought Microsoft an incredible success and huge profits.
Since that time, the company has diversified its services and expanded its markets. Today, Microsoft offers operating systems for computers, servers, phones, intelligent gadgets, as well as productivity applications, business solution apps, management and development tools, games, and many more.
Also, recently, Microsoft has slightly changed their field of interest. The company is now focusing on innovative technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, trying to become a leader in the field.
Industry: software development, hardware, electronics, cloud computing, etc.
Annual revenue: $143 bln.
Employees: 156,439 people.
The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA.
2. Apple Inc.
Today, Apple is the most valuable company in the tech sector in terms of market cap, which is about 1.90 trillion dollars. It is also the world’s most profitable digital company with annual revenue of $260.2 bln.
Recently, Apple was considered the most valuable company in the world among all industries until Saudi Aramco broke into the list in 2019 and moved the digital giant to the second place.
Apple has millions of loyal fans all around the globe that are ready to stand in huge lines when it comes to Apple’s top-tier products. This is definitely a significant achievement that makes it one of the most successful and admired brands ever.
The company was established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Jobs. Initially, they started with producing home computers and proprietary models of PC. But their greatest success came when the line of iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets was introduced to the world, which made Apple one of the wealthiest companies ever.
Nowadays, the range of Apple products is wide and includes smartwatches, computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and more.
Industry: hardware, software, electronics, information technology, etc.
Annual revenue: $260.2 bln.
Employees: 137,000 people.
Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, USA.
3. Alphabet Inc.
But some may not know that in 2015 the internationally famous Internet giant changed its official name to Alphabet Inc. At that time, the company was already out of the scope of the Google search engine.
Today, more than thirty popular services and sub-companies are part of the Alphabet Holding. Besides, the conglomerate owns a lot of interesting side projects, such as life-extension company Calico or smart home project Nest. Not to mention the Android OS. Also, Alphabet owns the Google Venture division, which invests start-ups, as well as Google Capital for long-term projects. Is not a surprise, that Alphabet is one of the most trusted tech companies worldwide.
Industry: research and development, software, video games, biotechnology, etc.
Annual revenue: $161.9 bln.
Employees: 123,048 people.
The conglomerate was established in 1993 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The headquarter is in Mountain View, California, USA.
4. Amazon Inc.
Besides, Amazon is one of the companies with the most expensive stocks. The price of one Amazon share is more than $3,000.
Some may say that Amazon is more of a retail seller than a tech company. Fair enough. Still, it has a computing division that brings about 15% of revenue annually. And let’s not forget that the main product of the company is the online shopping service.
Also, you have probably heard about the cloud computing platform called Amazon Web Service. It helps start-ups, enterprises, government, and academic institutions to create any type of business online by providing them with compute, storage, database, and other tech services.
Besides, there are thousands of Alexa devices, which have already found their homes.
Industry: e-commerce, consumer electronics, digital distribution, cloud computing, etc.
Annual revenue: $280.5 bln.
Employees: 840,400 people.
The company was established in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
5. Facebook
Facebook was developed by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004.
The social network is currently visited by more than 2 billion people every day, which might be the limit in their global growth, as some people say. So, in recent years, the company focused on another way to grow, specifically on acquisitions.
Today, Facebook Inc. owns a lot of other popular projects, among which are Instagram, Messenger, Whatsapp, and Oculus VR.
Industry: Social media, online advertisement.
Annual revenue: $70.7 bln.
Employees: 48,268 people.
Facebook is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, USA.
6. Alibaba Group
Alibaba is one of the largest virtual trading platforms in China and in the world, attracting the attention of buyers by both affordable prices and a wide range of goods presented.
Founded on April 4, 1999, the company provides the consumer, business-consumer and business services through web portals, as well as electronic payment and cloud computing services, and an advanced search system for customers. Not to mention the digital media and entertainment.
Its affiliate Ant Financial has rapidly become one of the most successful fintech companies in the world.
And if the growth continues, Alibaba might even potentially knock Amazon off its position.
Industry: Internet, e-commerce, cloud computing, mobile media, and more.
Annual revenue: $71.985 bln.
Employees: 117,600 people.
The headquarter is located in Hangzhou, China.
7. Tencent Company
This Chinese giant, established in 1998, is a venture company, a conglomerate, an investment holding, and one of the largest companies in the gaming industry with its “League of Legends,” “Arena of Valor,” and “Fortnite”.
Its products include e-commerce platforms, social networks, web portals, payment systems, Internet services, mobile and multiplayer games, smartphones, which are among the most successful in their categories.
More than one billion people actively use Tencent’s online services every day.
By the way, recently, the company got the right to exclusively distribute James Bond and Star Wars franchises in China.
Industry: Internet, search engine, social networking, web portals, e-commerce, AI, etc.
Annual revenue: $57.414 bln.
Employees: 62,885 people.
The headquarter of Tencent Seafront Towers (also known as Tencent Binhai Mansion) is located in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.
8. TSMC Company
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is a circuits manufacturer and the world’s largest semiconductor foundry. Its products are used in computer, communication, consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial equipment industries.
It was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang and became one of the first companies dedicated to semiconductor production in the world. Over time, TSMC gained the title of a leader in the field.
Among the company’s clients are Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom Inc., Nvidia, and Qualcomm. Even Intel, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments outsource some of their products to TSMC. But the most important customer is definitely Apple.
The company owes its success to the win-win business model, where both parties get benefits. TSMC takes the chipmakers’ design and creates the respective technology for them, as it has all the required equipment and does it pretty well in terms of quality.
TSMC has subsidiaries in China, Singapore, and the U.S., as well as offices in Europe, India, and Japan.
The headquarter is located in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
9. Samsung
The company has three technological divisions – Consumer Electronics, Information Technology & Mobile Communications, and Device Solutions.
We should also note that, so far, Samsung is Apple’s biggest opponent on the mobile market with its Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In recent years, a great part of Samsung’s revenue (about 40%) was smartphone-related.
The firm was established in South Korea in 1938. In 1969 Sanyo merged with Samsung, which gave birth to Samsung Group. In 1983, the company started personal computer production. And by 1991-1992 the development of the first line of mobile phones was completed.
Industry: Electronics, household appliances, shipbuilding, aircraft engineering.
Annual revenue: $197.691 bln.
Employees: 105,257 people.
Samsung is headquartered in Suwon, the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do, Republic of South Korea.
10. Nvidia
The company had its first success with the computer gaming market. In 2000, it started the partnership with Microsoft developing graphics cards for the X-box gaming console. Since then, the company consistently improves its products broadening the line and setting the new standards of interactive graphics.
Today, Nvidia is well-known in gaming, professional design, video editing, creative applications, AI, data centers, and other tech sectors.
The company also offers the SOCs (system on chips units). The Nvidia’s Tegra Processor division develops chips incorporating GPUs and multi-core CPUs for autonomous robots, drones, medical instruments, AI, cryptocurrency mining, and self-driving cars.
In 2018, Nvidia conducted a partnership with Uber to develop the AI computing system for autonomous cars and expand the self-driving vehicle sector. That year the company developed the world’s first functionally-safe self-driving platform NVIDIA DRIVE.
Industry: Semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics, computer hardware.
Annual revenue: $10.92 bln.
Employees: 13,775 people.
The company was founded by Jen-Hsun Huang, Curtis Priem, and Christopher Malachowsky in 1993. It is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, U.S.A
