Business Tuesday.

Top 10 World's Most Valuable Technology Companies in 2023

Today on business Tuesday we are going to go through the biggest tech companies in the world. Our list includes the biggest companies from different areas of the digital industry, such as software, hardware, media, eCommerce, telecommunications, and others. The ranking was made based on the market value of these digital giants and is relevant to an article written on April 17, 2023.

For comparison, Safaricom takes the lead as Kenya's largest company, boasting a revenue of approximately $9.96 billion (Ksh1.39 trillion) and a net income of $598 million (Ksh83.4 billion).

1.Apple Inc.

Market cap $2,535 bln. ( Ksh 353.51 tn)

 Industry: hardware, software, electronics, information technology, etc.

Annual revenue: $388 bln.

Employees: 154,000 people.

Headquarters:Cupertino, California, USA.

In terms of market capitalization, Apple currently holds the title as the most valuable company in both the global and tech sectors. Its market cap is estimated to be around 2,535 trillion dollars, solidifying its position as a leader. With an impressive annual revenue of $388 billion, Apple ranks among the world's largest companies.

Apple enjoys an enormous global fanbase, evident from the long queues of devoted customers eagerly awaiting the release of its top-tier products. This remarkable achievement has contributed to Apple's status as one of the most successful and admired brands worldwide.

Established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Jobs, Apple initially focused on manufacturing home computers and proprietary PC models. However, their greatest triumph came with the introduction of the iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets, propelling Apple to become one of the wealthiest companies in history.

Presently, Apple's product range encompasses a wide array of offerings, including smartwatches, computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and more.

2.Microsoft

Market cap$2,089 bln. (Ksh 291.31 tn)

Industry: software development, hardware, electronics, cloud computing, etc.

Annual revenue: $204 bln.

Employees: 181,000 people.

Headquarters:Redmond, Washington, USA.

  Microsoft is the second-largest tech company, due to its market capitalization of more than $2 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 the PC experience easy, user-friendly, and intuitive. And so, the Windows operating system was born. It brought Microsoft 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.

3.Alphabet Inc.

1. Market cap$1,354 bln. (Ksh 188.82 tn)

2. Industry: research and development, software, video games, biotechnology, etc.

3. Annual revenue: $281 bln.

4. Employees: 156,500 people.

5. Headquarters:Mountain View, California, USA.

Google, a name familiar to nearly all Internet users, underwent a significant transformation in 2015. The internationally renowned Internet giant rebranded itself as Alphabet Inc., acknowledging its expansion beyond the realm of the Google search engine.

Today, Alphabet Inc. encompasses over thirty well-known services and sub-companies under its corporate umbrella. Alongside these, Alphabet also oversees captivating ventures such as Calico, a life-extension company, and Nest, a smart home project. Additionally, Alphabet boasts ownership of the widely used Android OS. The conglomerate further manages Google Venture, a division dedicated to investing in start-ups, and Google Capital, which focuses on long-term projects. These endeavors, coupled with its exceptional reputation, position Alphabet as one of the most trusted major tech companies globally.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page co-founded this conglomerate in 1993, marking the beginning of its remarkable journey.

4.Amazon Inc.

Market cap$1,006 bln. (Ksh 140.29 tn)

Industry: e-commerce, consumer electronics, digital distribution, cloud computing, etc.

Annual revenue: $514 bln.

Employees: 1,608,000 people

Headquarters:Seattle, Washington.

Amazon takes the fourth place on our rating by market value. It has the highest employee number in the tech sector as well.

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.

The company was established in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

5.Nvidia

Market cap:$661 bln (Ksh 92.18 tn)

Industry: Semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics, computer hardware.

Annual revenue: $30 bln.

Employees: 22,473 people.

Headquarters:Santa Clara, California, USA.

Nvidia is a renowned global manufacturer of graphic processors, specializing in producing high-performance GPUs for a wide range of devices such as PCs, mobile devices, game consoles, and workstations. Initially making its mark in the computer gaming market, Nvidia's partnership with Microsoft in 2000 to develop graphics cards for the Xbox gaming console propelled its success. Since then, the company has continuously advanced its products, expanding its lineup and setting new benchmarks for interactive graphics. Today, Nvidia is widely recognized and respected in various industries, including gaming, professional design, video editing, creative applications, AI, data centers, and other tech sectors.

In addition to their graphics processors, Nvidia also offers System on Chips (SOCs) units. Their Tegra Processor division focuses on developing chips that integrate GPUs and multi-core CPUs. These chips find applications in autonomous robots, drones, medical instruments, AI, cryptocurrency mining, and self-driving cars. In 2018, Nvidia made a significant leap into the autonomous vehicle sector by developing an AI computing system for self-driving cars. Their introduction of the NVIDIA DRIVE platform marked a major milestone as the world's first functionally-safe self-driving platform. Founded in 1993 by Jen-Hsun Huang, Curtis Priem, and Christopher Malachowsky, Nvidia is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA.

6.Meta Platforms Inc (Facebook)

Market cap:$534 bln. (Ksh 74.47 tn)

Industry: Social media, online advertisement.
Annual revenue: $117 bln.
Employees: 71,970 people.

Headquarters:Menlo Park, California, USA.

Facebook is one of the fastest-growing businesses and one of the most expensive brands worldwide. Indeed, the market value of $446 billion is an astronomical indicator of popularity for an Internet project.

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.

7.TSMC

Market cap:$461 bln. (Ksh 64.29 tn)

Industry: Semiconductors.

Annual revenue: $52 bln.

Employees: 56,830 people.

Headquarters:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world's largest semiconductor foundry and a renowned circuits manufacturer. With its products extensively utilized in the computer, communication, consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial equipment industries, TSMC has earned a prominent position in the semiconductor market. Founded in 1987 by Morris Chang, TSMC was one of the pioneering companies dedicated solely to semiconductor production, and it has since emerged as a leader in the field. Notably, TSMC serves an impressive roster of clients, including industry giants such as Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom Inc., Nvidia, Qualcomm, Intel, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. However, its most significant customer is undeniably Apple. TSMC's success can be attributed to its collaborative business model, wherein the company leverages its cutting-edge equipment and expertise to manufacture high-quality technologies based on chipmakers' designs.

Headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC has expanded its reach with subsidiaries in China and Singapore, as well as offices in Europe, India, and Japan. The company's global presence and commitment to delivering top-notch semiconductor solutions have solidified its reputation as a leading player in the industry, contributing to the advancement of various sectors dependent on semiconductor technology.

8.Tencent

Market cap:$455 bln. (Ksh 63.45 tn)

Industry: Internet, search engine, social networking, web portals, e-commerce, AI, etc.
Annual revenue: $82 bln.
Employees: 112,771 people.

Headquarters:Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

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.

The headquarters of Tencent Seafront Towers (also known as Tencent Binhai Mansion) is located in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

9.Samsung

Market cap:$322 bln. (ks 44.90 tn)

Industry: Electronics, household appliances, shipbuilding, aircraft engineering.

Annual revenue: $236 bln.

Employees: 287,440 people.

Headquarters:Suwon, the capital of Gyeonggi-do province in the Republic of South Korea.

Samsung is renowned globally for its production of consumer electronics, although it operates as a vast private conglomerate with involvement in various industries, ranging from ship and aircraft building to life insurance. The company is structured into three key technological divisions: Consumer Electronics, Information Technology & Mobile Communications, and Device Solutions.

Notably, Samsung stands as Apple's biggest competitor in the mobile market, primarily due to its Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In recent years, a significant portion of Samsung's revenue, approximately 40%, has been derived from smartphone-related ventures.

Originally established in South Korea in 1938, Samsung Group came into being through a merger with Sanyo in 1969. The company ventured into personal computer production in 1983, and by 1991-1992, it had successfully developed its first line of mobile phones.

10.Alibaba Group

Market cap:$230 bln.

Industry: Internet, e-commerce, cloud computing, mobile media, and more.
Annual revenue: $128 bln.
Employees: 254,941 people.

 Headquarters:Hangzhou, China.

Closing our top 10 list of tech companies is Alibaba. Being one of the largest virtual trading platforms in China and in the world, this company is 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.

Other Big companies that we should mention include:

11. ASML

12. Oracle

13. AMD

14.Cisco Systems

15.Intel

16.Shopify

17.Sony

18.Adobe

.Tesla is also a tech company. If we included it in our list it is among the first 5 big companies.

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