Amazon (USA)
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 in the outskirts of the city of Seattle in the United States. It began life as a digital platform for selling books and has gone on to become one of the biggest marketplaces in the world, selling every product that you can imagine. For years now, Amazon has invested a huge amount of money in technology, which has enabled it to become one of the first companies to boast warehouses completely run by robots. As well as robotics, it specializes in developing big data to maximize sales and artificial intelligence to streamline the delivery process.
Alibaba
Alibaba Group was founded in 1999 by the renowned businessman and conference speaker Jack Ma, in the Chinese city of Binjiang. The company is now considered to be the queen of e-commerce, surpassing even Amazon and eBay. The founder, Ma, is a firm believer in technology, which has led him to make multimillion dollar investments in artificial intelligence, big data and computing in general. The company is now striving to reduce global dependence on US technology, having managed to make significant advances in the creation of chips, electronic devices and digital services that optimize e-commerce. There is no doubt that Jack Ma, at the helm of Alibaba, will continue to be a key player in the technological world.
Google
The technology giant Google was founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in the US city of Mountain View, California. Just like Facebook, the company started out as a university project with the aim of building an online search engine. Nowadays, however, Google offers a broad range of services including email, GPS, news, books, social media and operating systems for smartphones. With an annual turnover of more than 130 billion dollars, Google is set to remain the key player in some of the most widely used software and electronic devices for many years to come.
Baidu
Baidu is one of the most widely used search engines in the world. It was created by Robin Li and Eric Xu in 2000 in the Chinese city of Beijing. In contrast to US search engines, Baidu gives the option of searching mp3 files or, in other words, songs, which has made it extremely popular but has also generated big legal problems with companies such as Warner Music and Universal Music. Baidu is now focusing on video streaming services and artificial intelligence to continue perfecting its services. It is now predicted to be one of the companies that will dominate the online world.
Facebook
Although it goes without saying, Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 in the city of Cambridge in the United States. It started out as a social network for university students to communicate with each other. However, it was only a matter of time before the company went on to become a global phenomenon. As well as being a pioneer in the world of digital communication, Facebook is at the forefront of great transformations in ecommerce, and invests more than any other company in technologies like virtual reality.
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Limited provided the most widely used Internet browser in China, founded by Ma Huateng in 1998. It now operates in a number of sectors, including social media, ecommerce and video game production, which has made it one of the fastest growing companies in the world.
IBM
The US consultancy and developer IBM was founded by Charles Flint in New York in 1911. Since its beginnings, it has been a pioneer in global technological development, becoming one of the companies with the most patents in its name. It has a dozen research laboratories and its employees have won accolades ranging from the Nobel Prize to the Turing Award. Part of the technological progress of the 20th Century is thanks to IBM and the same is sure to be true in the 21st Century.
Microsoft
Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is considered one of the originators of the Internet and, thanks to its advances in software, hardware and the Internet, it has consolidated its position as one of the companies that will dominate the future of the digital world.
Apple
Last but certainly not least is the revolutionary technology firm, Apple, which was founded by Steve Jobs, along with Wozniak and Wayne, in California in 1975. The company made a real impression right from the start thanks to both its advanced software and attractive models. Now and in the future, Apple will continue dominating the smartphone, computer and tablet sectors.
If you are interested in this issue and would like to get a more in-depth insight into how companies operate at an international level, as well as their functional techniques and aspects of creativity and innovation, EAE’s Master of International Business is the program for you. Find out more about it here!