America's biggest technology companies

[Prashanth]

The year 2008 has been a tough year for companies across sectors. The year saw most of them see their market cap get mauled and profits shrink.

The Fortune magazine's annual ranking of America's largest companies too mirrors slowdown pangs being faced by these corporate giants. The high and mighty of corporate America are trying every management trick to keep their financial books in black.

Here we bring to you the biggest 10 technology companies in revenue on the list.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

AT&T

The biggest technology company in terms of revenues is US-based AT&T. The leading wireless provider Headquartered in Texas, the company which jumped two positions at no 8 compared to last year, has $124,028 million revenues and makes a profit of $12,867 million.

Having market value of $153,226 million as of March end, the company has $265,245 million worth assets. The company has a global workforce of 302,660.

During just announced Q4, the company activated 1.9 million 3G iPhone, down 21 per cent from Q3, when the phone was first launched. AT&T reported Q4 profit falling more than 23 per cent to about $2.4 billion. The company indicated it will cut capital spending in 2009 by 10 to 15 per cent, or by $2 billion to $3 billion from 2008 levels.

According to an analyst, the results show that the company is well-positioned to handle the recession from a cost management perspective, and equally well-positioned to emerge stronger when the recession ends.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Hewlett-Packard

At no. 9 in the overall list of biggest technology companies by revenues is Hewlett-Packard, the world's top seller of personal computers. Last year the company was ranked at no. 14 on the list.

In 2008, the company recorded revenues of $118,364 million up 13.5 per cent from previous year. The company's profits amounted to $8,329 million up from 14.7 per cent from the year 2007.

The company's revenue and earnings rose 13 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, aided by strong demand for laptops (up 21 per cent) and services (10 per cent). With $79,879.1 million market value, the company has total assets worth $113,331 million.

Headquartered in California, the company serves more than one billion customers in more than 170 countries. The company spends $3.5 billion annually on research and development of products, solutions and new technologies. The company has 321,000 global manpower resource.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

International Business Machines

At no 14 on the list is IBM, one of the largest information technology services and consulting provider. The company jumped one spot up from its last year's ranking.

The Big Blue's profit climbed 18 per cent in 2008, fueled by overseas growth in countries from Argentina to Vietnam. The company made 15 acquisitions, up from 12 in 2007.

Recently, IBM was in acquisition talks with Sun Microsystems. However, the talks collapsed. Last week Oracle acquired Sun in $7.5 billion deal.

The company recorded revenues of $103,630 million, 4.9 per cent change from 2007. The company's profits were estimated at $12,334 million up from 18.4 per cent the previous year. With the market value of $126,319 million as of March end, the company has total assets worth $109,524 million. The company had $8.93 earning per share. As of 2008, the company had 398,455 global employee base.

The challenging market may have hammered IBM's stock price by nearly 30 per cent since July 2008, however, analysts credit the company to have weathered the economic crunch `relatively well'.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Verizon Communications

Next technology company on the Fortune 500 list is Verizon Communications, American's leading broadband and telecommunication company.

In 2008, the company recorded $97,354 million revenues up 3.8 per cent from previous year. Company's profits amounted to $6,428 million, 16.4 per cent change from 2007. The company had $2.26 earning per share.

Having market value of $86,978.3 million, Verizon Communications has total assets amounting to $202,352 million. The popularity of Blackberry Storm helped the telecom giant grow its profits in 2008. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), was helped by the acquisition with Alltel.

With the $28.1 billion purchase of Alltel in January 2009, Verizon is now the America's biggest wireless company with 83.7 million customers. As of 2008, the company has total 223,880 global workforce.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Dell


World's No. 2 PC maker Dell is America's fifth biggest technology company in revenue. Ranked at No. 33 on the overall list, the company moved one spot up over the last year.

During 2008, the company recorded $61,101 million revenues slightly down (-0.1 per cent) compared to previous year. Company's profits stood at $2,478.0 million down 15.9 per cent from 2007. With market value of $19,412.9 million as of March, the company's assets are worth $26,500 million.

Fortune says that ever since founder Michael Dell returned to the helm of his company in 2007, Dell has launched a series of initiatives to help it compete. But the results of those efforts have been mixed.

Dell, which ranks itself as Ireland's largest exporter, largest technology company and second largest company overall, said that it would move production of computer systems for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to its Polish plant and third-party manufacturing partners.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Microsoft

At no 35 is world's largest software maker Microsoft. The software giant climbed as many as 9 positions over its last year's ranking.

In 2008, the software giant clocked in $60,420 million revenues up 18.2 per cent from previous year. The company's profits amounted to $17,681 million, 25.7 per cent change from 2007.

As of March 2009, the company had a market value of $161,185.9 million and $72,793 million total assets. The year 2008 may be a tough one for Microsoft, with the company's attempt to acquire rival Yahoo failing and Net search leader Google giving it a tough competition in Internet space as well as rolling out online apps to dent its software revenues.

Though the software giant is not left untouched by slowdown, it is among the few companies that have not frozen hiring. CEO Steve Ballmer said that the company will be adding new jobs in the next 18 months to support key areas, including Web search.



Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems is the America's seventh biggest technology company in terms of revenue size. In the over all list, the company made the biggest ranking jump in 2009 over its previous years ranking. The company stands at 57th position vis-a-vis its 71st position in the previous year.

During 2008, Cisco recorded $39,540 million revenues, up 13.2 per cent from previous years. The company profits stood at $8,052 million up 9.8 per cent from previous year.

The worldwide leader in networking for the Internet has market value of $98,937.4 million. Company total assets are worth $58,734 million. The networking giant Cisco is the among the most cash-rich tech companies with $29.5 billion in hand. The company has been upfront about its plans to use some of this cash to make acquisitions. Cisco has said it plans to be acquisitive during the economic downturn.

Founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University, Cisco's hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create Internet solutions. The company has more than 67,647 employees worldwide.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Intel

The world's largest chipmaker Intel stands at no. 61 on the Fortune 500 list. The technology bellwether reported $37,586 million revenues in 2008, down 2 per cent from the previous year. The company's profits were $5,292 million, down 24.1 per cent.

The market value of company as of March end is $85,766 million and total assets are worth $50,715 million. The company's fourth-quarter profit plunged 90 per cent but still managed to meet Wall Street's expectations. The chip maker has been hurt by falling PC sales that have crimped demand for microprocessors.

The California-based company's profits were squeezed by a freeze in IT spending and a shift toward low-margin processors for a class of low-cost laptops called Netbooks. A big reason for the severity of the fourth-quarter drop, though, was a $1 billion writedown of the value of Intel's investment in Internet provider Clearwire Corp.

Recently, the company said that it would close manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as its only remaining factory in Silicon Valley, cutting as many as 6,000 jobs.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Sprint Nextel

Next big technology company on the list is Sprint Nextel, a telecommunication company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company is the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with close to 49 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

In 2008, the company clocked revenues of $35,635 million, down 11.2 per cent from previous year. Profits fell $2,796 million. With market value of $11,345.3 million, the company's total assets are worth $58,252.0 million.

In January this year, the company announced that it will cut 8,000 jobs by March 31 as part of a programme to reduce labor costs. The number includes 850 positions which are expected to be eliminated under a voluntary separation plan that started late last year.

Anticipating continued downward pressure on subscriber trends, revenues, and profitability, Sprint Nextel plans to streamline the business in coming months. These include call for job reductions across the company and reduced utilization of outsourced services and contractors.


Source: indiatimes

[Prashanth]

Apple

US-headquartered Apple is at the 71st position on the list of biggest technology companies. The company reported $32,479 million revenue in 2008, 35.3 per cent up from 2007. Profits were $4,834 million, up 38.3 per cent as compared to previous year.

The company's market value is reported at $95,155.7 million and total assets are worth $39,572 million. Bucking the global recessionary trend, IT giant Apple breached the $10 billion-mark in revenues in the quarter ended December 2008. The company recorded revenue and profit during its fiscal first quarter on the strength of laptop, iPod, and iPhone sales.

Apple was lambasted for hiding Job's illness. However, the company continues to have its loyal customer base. Apple shipped 22.7 million iPods during its first quarter (up 3 per cent from last year), 2.5 million Macs (up 9 per cent), and 4.4 million iPhones.

For the first time in its history, Apple tallied more than $10 billion revenue, reporting sales of $10.17 billion for the three months ended December 31.


Source: indiatimes