According to statistics, the technology industry makes up 35% of the total market. And it’s steadily growing: the growth rate was 5.3% for 2022. There are more than 500 thousand tech companies alone in the United States, over 6,600 of which are in Silicon Valley.
Despite all the economic problems in the supply chain, workforce, and innovation, tech companies have recovered in 2023. Even though these issues may continue going into 2024, the growth rate of last year shows that the technology sector is resilient and is willing to move further.
Almost each and every company -no matter which industry they’re originally in- depends on technology companies in one way or another. It might be hardware, software, online services/tools, cybersecurity solutions…
And my friends, this means money.
For this article, I went through Forbes The Global 2000, the annual ranking of public companies based on 4 metrics (sales, assets, profits, and market value).
In this article, you will find the most up-to-date numbers about the tech companies in 2024.
Before we start, here is a fun fact about how old the tech companies on the list are:
- Apple: 47 (April 1, 1976)
- Alphabet: 8 (October 2, 2015)
- Microsoft: 48 (April 4, 1975)
- Amazon: 29 (July 5, 1994)
- Samsung Group: 85 (March 1, 1938)
- Tencent Holding: 25 (November 11, 1998)
- Meta Platforms: 19 (February, 2004)
- Cisco Systems: 39 (December 10, 1984)
- Oracle Corporation: 46 (June 16, 1977)
- Broadcom: 62 (1961)
- SAP: 51 (April 1, 1972)
- Accenture: 34 (1989)
- Salesforce: 24 (February, 1999)
- Adobe: 41 (December, 1982)
- Intuit: 40 (1983)
- Capgemini: 56 (October 1, 1967)
- VMware: 25 (1998)
- Uber Technologies Inc.: 14 (March, 2009)
- Shopify: 17 (2006)
- Zoom Video Communications: 12 (2011)
- Synopsys: 37 (1986)
- Atlassian: 21 (2002)
Here are the biggest tech companies of 2024 👇
#1: Microsoft
- Popular Products: Microsoft, MS Office, Microsoft Teams, Visual Studio
- Market Value: $3
- Employee Size: 221,000
Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Ellen in 1975, Microsoft is another tech giant rising from the United States. In 2023, Microsoft’s annual revenue was $211.915B. This is a 6.88% increase from 2022. Being one of the top tech companies, Microsoft has 221,000 employees.
It produces consumer electronics and computer software, as well as offers related solutions.
One of Microsoft’s best products, MS Office, has become an indispensable part of our lives. Spreadsheets, presentations, meeting notes… You are ready for any meeting, any time with Office tools. You can check our post to learn how to use Onenote.
➡️ Also; LinkedIn, Skype, and GitHub can be listed among the company’s subsidiaries.
#2: Apple
- Popular Products: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, MacBook
- Market Value: $2.8T
- Employee Size: 164,000
Another tech giant on our list is Apple, which is not very surprising.
Specializing in electronics, software, and online services, Apple’s quarterly revenue is $81.8 billion. It is down 1 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.26, is up 5 percent year over year in 2023.
The company was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in 1976. Since then, Apple has been producing various tech devices, from computers to wearables. Apple is among the job creators in the US with two million jobs in all 50 states.
Apple was one of the most popular tech companies in the industry when I was a little kid, it still is, and it doesn’t seem like this will change in the near future.
#3: Alphabet Inc.
- Popular Products: Android, Google, YouTube
- Market Value: $1.746 T
- Employee Size: 186,779
Alphabet is a multinational conglomerate company. For the quarter ending June 30, 2023 Alphabet’s revenue was $74.604B. This was a 7.06% increase year-over-year. Also, ending June 30, 2023, the tech company’s revenue for the last 12 months was $289.531B. This was a 4.1% increase year-over-year.
After the restructuring Google went through in 2015, Alphabet Inc. was founded, and it became the parent company of Google businesses.
The company also invests in various start-ups and companies of different sizes in the tech industry: smart home projects, self-driving cars, cloud-gaming systems, and more.
#4: Amazon
- Popular Products: Amazon Store, Amazon Prime, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Alexa, Twitch, Goodreads
- Market Value: $1.534 T
- Employee Size: 1,608,000
Amazon, one of the most valuable companies in the world, was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. Amazon’s revenue for 12 months in 2023 is $538.046B.
Initially an online marketplace, the company started to produce its own technological devices and offer cloud services over time.
As well as ranking as the world’s 6th largest company in Forbes’ list, it’s listed among the top 25 tech and IT companies to work for -a.k.a. best workplaces!
#5: Meta Platforms
- Popular Products: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger
- Market Value: $885.23 B
- Employee Size: 83,553
Launched by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 to connect Harvard students with one another, Facebook was an instant hit. In 2 years, it became open to public use. In 2010, more than 400 million people were using it monthly.
In 2021, Facebook Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms to emphasize its orientation to the metaverse. Virtual/augmented reality is the future, and Meta claims to help people exist there.
In addition to their own products focusing on Metaverse and Web3, such as Meta Quest and Meta Portal, the company acquired many subsidiaries, including Novi Financial, Hot Studio, and WhatsApp.
#6: Broadcom Inc.
- Popular Products: Symantec Enterprise Cloud, Rally Software
- Market Value: $437.19 B
- Employee Size: 20,000
Yeah, software companies are worth the whole world, and hardware companies can be worth a lot too. But companies who provide both? They’re totally different gems 💎
Broadcom has a diverse product portfolio, including both semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions.
With their innovative vision and collaboration, they achieved excellence more than once.
- Introduced the first commercially available LED dot matrix display.
- Produced the first cable modem that enabled cable TV providers to offer Internet connectivity.
- Delivered the first high-speed digital optocouplers for use in hybrid and electric vehicles.
- Introduced embedded fiber-optic solutions for IBM.
- Introduced the first 5G radio switch.
#7: Samsung Group
- Popular Products: Phones, televisions, and other tech devices
- Market Value: $388.00 B
- Employee Size: +320,000 (source)
Founded in 1969 in South Korea, Samsung Electronics operates through business divisions, as they manufacture and sell a wide range of electronics and software.
These are Consumer Electronics, IT & Mobile Communications, and Device Solutions.
Samsung Electronics does not only manufacture TVs, phones, and wearables; it also has smart home and digital health initiatives.
#8: Tencent Holdings
- Popular Products: WeChat, PUBG Mobile, QQ, Riot Games
- Market Value: $366.51 B
- Employee Size: 112,771
Tencent Holdings is a Chinese technology conglomerate company that was founded 23 years ago. It’s the first Asian tech company that crossed the $500B mark.
Among its services, there are web portals, e-commerce platforms, payment systems, social networks, and mobile games.
The holding group also owns Tencent Music and Tencent Games, the largest company in the video game industry.
Tencent’s most popular communication tool WeChat has over 1.2 billion monthly active users. And its sibling app, QQ, has 564 million monthly active users.
The company also provides marketing solutions and cloud services. ”Tencent is dedicated to being a digital assistant” they say. Through their digital services and technologies, they aim to help every industry.
#9: Cisco Systems
- Popular Products: Cisco ONE, Cisco DNA, Cisco+
- Market Value: $205.24 B
- Employee Size: 79,500
Born out of the difficulties of a husband and wife working at Stanford to communicate within the organization, Cisco Systems is almost 40 years old today.
Headquartered in San Jose, Silicon Valley, Cisco is an IT and networking company specializing in routers, switches, and cybersecurity.
The cybersecurity unit is the most valuable -and the fastest growing- part of the company. Last quarter, it grew its revenue by 14%, according to company data.
With Cisco SecureX; you can detect, respond, and quickly recover from cyber attacks. It’s an integrated platform that can be used across various products, which means you can secure your apps, users, endpoints, and network from a single platform.
A fun fact about the company name: Cisco stands for San Francisco, and the vertical lines on the logo represent the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉
#10: Oracle Corporation
- Popular Products: Oracle Cloud, Java, MySQL, Oracle Linux
- Market Value: $281.65 B
- Employee Size: 143,000
Oracle is an American computer software company. It was founded in 1977, in California, but the corporate headquarters are in Austin, Texas now.
They have more than 400,000 customers across the world, including FedEx, Xerox, and Siemens Healthineers, as they provide specific solutions for different industries.
You can manage your restaurant, modernize your finances, secure network infrastructure solutions, connect HR (Human Resources) /product management/ marketing, and increase client satisfaction.
Plus: Oracle holds developer events regularly. From machine learning to image recognition, specialists exchange ideas. You can check out old events’ recordings and register for the upcoming ones from here.
#11: SAP
- Popular Products: SAP S/4HANA Cloud
- Market Value: $177.29 B
- Employee Size: 107,415
SAP is a leading software company that focuses on business management solutions such as data processing and information flow.
It was founded in 1972 in Weinheim, Germany.
When they released SAP R/2 and SAP R/3 software, they set a global standard in terms of enterprise resource planning (ERP). Now they have SAP S/4HANA, the latest version of ERP software. It makes use of in-memory computing; therefore, it enables tremendous amounts of data to be processed fast and smoothly.
SAP software gathers and centralizes data, normally which would be collected and analyzed separately by each department/team. It helps to have a better view and interpretation of collected data while increasing productivity -and ultimately, profits.
ERP software includes tools and programs suitable for all teams: HR, sales, marketing, product…
And SAP has different solutions for companies of different sizes. A big corporate or a small company, doesn’t matter, you can get help from them!
⚠️ For other business management tools, let’s take you here.
#12: Accenture
- Industry: Information Technology
- Market Value: $196.86B
- Employee Size: 721,000
It’s not easy to be recognized as a successful company by business magazines and get featured. But if there’s anything harder, it is to be recognized and loved by those who got featured there.
Accenture has been working with 89 of Fortune 100 companies.
It’s also listed as one of the best workplaces for innovative people by Fast Company.
Now, who is this Accenture? Let’s have a close look at their services 👀
They provide a wide range of services. From AI and cloud services to services for marketing needs, security needs, data & analytics…
Furthermore, Accenture helps customers understand the metaverse and shape their business plans in a way that will fit into the future. With a deep understanding of the industry and the future that awaits it, they accompany customers in their metaverse journey.
“While we are at the early days of the metaverse, it will advance very quickly. If companies don’t act now, they’ll find themselves operating in worlds designed by, and for, someone else.”
— PAUL DAUGHERTY, Group Chief Executive – Technology & Chief Technology Officer
P.S. Accenture leads a national tech apprenticeship program. You can read more about it here.
#13: Salesforce
- Popular Products: Customer 360, Slack, Tableau
- Market Value: $243.78 B
- Employee Size: 73,541
Salesforce is the world’s #1 customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Founded in 1999, in California, it became one of the major tech companies shortly.
It acquired several companies including Slack, Heroku, and Tableou Software.
Customer 360, Salesforce’s original product, is a platform that integrates all the data and information about your company into one place. Sales team, customer Support, marketing people, product engineers… All teams, one workspace.
You can integrate different apps with Customer 360 for sales/marketing purposes, data analysis, etc. – and actually – the more you integrate the better results you get.
🙋 Don’t forget to check the best Salesforce alternatives!
#14: Adobe
- Popular products: Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Creative Cloud
- Market Value: $260.33 B
- Employee Size: +26,000
Founded in 1982, Adobe is an American software company that provides marketing and document management solutions as well as creative tools. The corporate headquarters are in San Jose, Silicon Valley.
The company offers services in 3 main categories:
- Creative Cloud: tools for design and editing, such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
- Experience Cloud: services for marketing and customer experience, such as manager screens, marketing optimization, real-time CDP, and analytics.
- Document Cloud: tools for editing documents, such as Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Sign.
#15: Intuit
- Popular Products: QuickBooks, TurboTax, Mint
- Market Value: $165.48 B
- Employee Size: 17,300
Intuit is a software company that is specialized in finance.
Along with their own products, QuickBooks, TurboTax, and Mint, the company owns time management and scheduling app TSheets, Mailchimp, and Credit Karma, which was another finance company but now is a brand of Intuit.
Let’s see what you can do with their products 🤔
QuickBooks:
- Keep track of your income and expenses
- Complete your payments
- Organize your taxes
#16: Capgemini
- Popular Subsidiaries: Tessella, Sogeti
- Market Value: $35.59B
- Employee Size: 358,400
Capgemini is a French-American IT services & consulting company. Corporate headquarters are in Paris, France.
They offer companies various solutions such as business transformation, cybersecurity, and enterprise management.
Also, they are aware of the fact that industry needs differ. Capgemini follows each industry closely and offers recommendations based on their needs.
From healthcare to media, insurance to travel, banking to automotive, and even aerospace and defense! You can trust them.
#17: VMware
- Popular Products: VMware vSphere
- Market Value: $45.55B
- Employee Size: 37,500
Founded in 1998, in Palo Alto, California, VMware is a cloud computing company.
It provides multi-cloud services for all apps. But what is multi-cloud?
Hybrid has become the new normal for most of us. No, I’m not talking about half-time office half-time home-office shifts. I’m talking about online workspaces, clouds. 73% of enterprises work with two – or more – cloud accounts. Even though the wide use of cloud-based platforms and the digital transformation is good news, they might bring possible security risks and productivity problems.
That is where VMware comes into play:
- It connects and secures data across data centers and clouds.
- It leverages infrastructure to protect apps.
- It does not only protect your apps but also helps you improve and modernize them.
- And finally, it improves the work experience of your employees. Anyone can work from anywhere from now on!
#18: Uber Technologies Inc.
- Popular Products: Uber, Uber Eats
- Market Value: $119.87 B
- Employee Size: 29,300
Uber, one of the companies with a high-tech employment rate, is a mobility-as-a-service company. It was founded in 2009 and quickly grew to be one of the most successful start-ups of the last decade.
You can mainly do two things with Uber:
- You can meet your transportation needs
- Or you can order from your favorite restaurants and get delivery with Uber
Also, you can work as an Uber driver or a delivery person.
Plus, as the largest mobility-as-a-service platform in the world, the company is aware of its responsibilities towards the environment. They will have become a full electric, zero-emission platform by the end of 2040.
#19: Shopify
- Industry: E-commerce
- Market Value: $92.23 B
- Employee Size: +10,000
Shopify, which emerged shortly after as a solution when its founders could not find an e-commerce platform that meets their needs for their own commerce ventures, is now helping millions of businesses worldwide.
You can start your business, sell your products, plan your marketing campaigns, and manage your finances from only one platform.
But it doesn’t end with creating a page on Shopify. You need to be on good terms with your customers, which means, you need to welcome them.
🏃♀️ Take a look at how to onboard your Shopify customers successfully.
Also, here you can find more about onboarding tools.
#20: Zoom Video Communications
- Industry: Communication Platform
- Market Value: $29.96B
- Employee Size: 6,787
I believe almost all of us have used, or at least heard about Zoom once in our lives, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We held our meetings, classes, movie nights…
But the company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in San Jose, Silicon Valley.
You can connect your hybrid workforce or get closer to your users and organize informative webinars. Zoom can be easily integrated with almost all industries. Healthcare, education, finance, software… If you work with people or target people, then you’re good to go.
#21: Synopsys
- Industry: Electronic Design & Verification
- Market Value: $74.83 B
- Employee Size: +16,000
Synopsys is an electronic design and software company that mainly focuses on silicon design and software security. Since it was founded, it has acquired a number of software and semiconductor companies such as Black Duck, Cigital, and eSilicon.
If there is anything smart, you’re likely to see Synopsys too.
- It’s the world’s #1 electronic design automation service
- It has the broadest silicon IP portfolio
- And it’s one of the leading companies when it comes to app security
#22: Atlassian
- Popular Products: Jira, Trello, Confluence
- Market Value: $56.78 B
- Employee Size: 8,813
Atlassian is an Australian software company that produces tools mainly for software developers, project teams, and managers. It was founded in 2002 and in 20 years, it could manage to be among The Global 2000.
Jira, the #1 software development tool, is basically a tool for project tracking and team collaboration. With special templates, you can choose what you want to focus on, and then start working.
Although they might seem fundamentally similar, Trello and Jira differ in their target audience. While Jira has special pre-determined settings/templates for coders, Trello addresses other teams (marketing, sales, product, etc.) and individuals.
Whether you’re a CEO of Silicon Valley or a student, you can tailor Trello according to your needs, and start planning.
Other tech companies that deserved to be on the list but couldn’t make it:
- IBM
- Intel
- Dell
- Alibaba Group
Conclusion
There are thousands of tech companies, providing different solutions and services.
In this article, I’ve collected the biggest ones according to Forbes’ data. I wanted to focus mostly on the software and IT companies while leaving most of the hardware-producing companies out of the list. So, sorry if you couldn’t see a company that should have been on the list.
All the companies on the list are public companies, which means they’re open to the stock exchange. You can check their status from Wall Street Journal or any other news platform.
Finally, this list is just an interpretation of the research done by Forbes, not investment advice.
FAQs
What is the #1 tech company?
With a $2.865 trillion market value, Apple Inc. dominates the tech industry.
What company owns Apple?
Apple is a public company, which means shareholders own it. But institutional shareholders such as Vanguard, Blackrock, and Berkshire Hathaway hold more than 57% of the shares.
What is the richest company in the world?
By market capitalization, Microsoft is the world’s biggest -and richest- company.
What companies are in the technology field?
Here is a list of the companies that are in the technology field:
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Alphabet Inc.
- Amazon
- Samsung Group
- Tencent Holdings
- Meta Platforms
- Broadcom Inc.
- Cisco Systems
- Oracle Corporation
- SAP
- Accenture
- Salesforce
- Adobe
- Intuit
- Capgemini
- VMware
- Uber Technologies Inc.
- Shopify
- Zoom Video Communications
- Synopsys
- Atlassian