Largest IT Companies in the World

 Introduction

The Information Technology (IT) sector is a cornerstone of the global economy, driving innovation, efficiency, and connectivity across industries. IT companies play a critical role in shaping the future of technology, offering solutions that range from software and hardware to cloud computing and artificial intelligence. This article explores some of the largest IT companies in the world, highlighting their impact, market position, and contributions to the tech landscape

Alphabet (Google)

Google is the leader in online advertising (Google Ads), online search (Google Search), video sharing (YouTube), email (Gmail), web browsers (Google Chrome), web mapping (Google Maps and Waze), mobile operating systems (Android), and cloud storage (Google Drive). Google Cloud Platform is the third most popular cloud computing platform after Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Google and Meta have been called a digital advertising duopoly. Google earns 82% of its revenue and most of its profit from advertising. Alphabet is considered the global leader in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and self-driving cars. In 2019, Google claimed its Sycamore processor had achieved quantum supremacy.  In 2021, Alphabet’s subsidiary Waymo was the first company to offer public robotaxi service. In January 2020, Alphabet reached $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time.

Amazon

In 2017, Amazon was the leader in e-commerce with 40.4% market share, cloud computing, with nearly 32% market share, and live streaming with Twitch controlling 75.6% market share.^{[citation needed]} With Amazon Alexa and Amazon Echo, Amazon is also the leader in the area of artificial intelligence-based personal digital assistants and smart speakers (Amazon Echo) with 69% market share followed by Google (Google Nest) at 25% market share. Amazon Web Services made up 59% of Amazon’s profit in 2020, and more than half of the company’s profit every year since 2014. After Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) was released in 2006, Google developed Google App Engine (now Google Cloud Platform) and Microsoft developed Windows Azure (now Microsoft Azure). After crossing $1 trillion during trading hours once in September 2018 and again in January 2020, Amazon closed above $1 trillion for the first time in April 2020. In November 2022, Amazon fell below $1 trillion for the first time since 2020, part of a 51% decline from $1.7 trillion at the beginning of 2022 to $834 billion at the end of the year. By May 2023, Amazon stock was again worth more than $1 trillion.

Apple

Apple sells consumer electronics, including laptops, smartphones, and smartwatches. IT’s shares a duopoly with Google in mobile operating systems, with Apple’s iOS controlling 27% market share and Google’s Android controlling 72%. . In January 2022, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company in history to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion .In January 2023, Apple fell below $2 trillion. Company closed above $3 trillion for the first time in June 2023 and closed above $3 trillion again in December 2023.

Meta

Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook)owns the Facebook social networking service, the Instagram image sharing service, and the WhatsApp instant messaging service. Facebook also acquired Oculus in 2014, entering the virtual reality market. After closing above $1 trillion for the first time in June 2021 as Facebook, Meta Platforms finished 2021 below $1 trillion . In February 2022, Meta Platforms fell to less than $600 billion (setting a record for the largest one-day drop in U.S. stock market history), and was no longer within the top 20 most valuable U.S. companies after falling to $270 billion in October 2022. In January 2024, Meta crossed $1 trillion during trading hours.

Microsoft

Microsoft controls the majority of market share in desktop operating systems (Microsoft Windows), productivity software (Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365), and business communication software (Microsoft Teams). Microsoft owns the second biggest cloud computing platform (Microsoft Azure)after Amazon Web Services. Microsoft is also one of the biggest companies in the video game industry (Microsoft Gaming). In April 2019, Microsoft reached $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time.In June 2021, Microsoft crossed $2 trillion for the first time,and in October 2021 briefly surpassed Apple as the most valuable company in the world before finishing the year second to Apple at $2.5 trillion. After its stock fell during most of 2022, Microsoft finished the year below $2 trillion. By May 2023, Microsoft stock was again worth more than $2 trillion. In January 2024, Microsoft briefly surpassed Apple as the most valuable U.S. company,and crossed $3 trillion during trading hours.