At first glance, the top tech companies in the world appear to have a lot in common, from backgrounds to business practices.
Upon further inspection, however, aside from the things I mentioned, these tech companies differ quite a bit, with perhaps the biggest difference being how each of these tech giants generates revenue.
Today’s infographic focuses on the varying ways the ‘Big Five’ tech companies make their money. The Big Five tech companies are considered to be Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, and Windows. While the basic principle is the same for most of these companies (pay them money, they provide a product/service), the specifics behind how these companies make their money is where the real differences manifest.
For example, Apple, who made $265.6 billion in 2018, had a ridiculous 62.8% of its revenue coming from one line of products, the iPhone line. Meanwhile, a company like Windows ($110.4 billion in 2018) has the most diversified revenue of all of the companies mentioned, with eight different segments of their company generating >5% in revenue.
However, do you remember how I said that the basic principle is the same for most of these companies? Well, two of the companies I mentioned do not share the same basic principle as the others, with these being Facebook and Alphabet. These companies do not charge money for their services, but instead, rake in incredible revenue simply from advertising.
Check out the rest of the infographic for a more specific breakdown that might surprise you!