Apple retained its position of the number one IT vendor in 2016, according to Gartner, while Google overtook Microsoft in annual revenue.
Tech industry analyst Gartner has revealed the top 100 vendors in IT, through new research ranking companies based on their IT revenue, excluding communication services, in 2016.
Apple leads the pack, having taken in US$218 billion in 2016. Despite this, the iPhone maker’s revenue was down on its 2015 takings, which were reported as US$235 billion.
At second place in 2016 was the Samsung Vendor Group, at US$139 billion, also retaining its position but down on its 2015 revenue of US$142 billion.
Google overtook Microsoft in revenue, securing third place with US$90.1 billion dollars, pushing Microsoft to fourth spot with US$85.7 billion dollars. Google was in fifth spot in 2015. Coming in at 2016’s fifth place is IBM with US$77.8 billion in revenue.
Gartner says its research demonstrates the IT market is in the midst of “a significant transition”, noting that the top five vendors’ combined revenue dropped by $US8.8 billion in 2016.
While the research firm withheld the full list for subscribers only, it offered further insights on the top five companies.
The analyst reported that the three leading vendors, Apple, Samsung and Google, could attribute their size to their investment in what it called the ‘Nexus of Forces’, which concerns “the convergence of mobile, social, cloud and information”. Gartner also said Microsoft “was a large and influential company when the Nexus of Forces began, having grown to market leadership during the web and e-business phase, and has managed to pivot to remain relevant”.
IBM’s continued strength high on the list comes down to its market dominance in the early IT markets, when servers, storage and consulting services dominated, according to Gartner, which added that the need for those devices and services, as well as mobile phones and PCs would remain, but become more commoditised and less of a driver for new projects and spending.
"The needs of IT buyers are shifting,” Gartner vice president and analyst John-David Lovelock said. “CEOs are focused on growth and are more focused on realising business outcomes from their IT spend. The Nexus of Forces has been the focus of attention for many years, however, the impact of digital business is giving rise to new categories."
While Apple retained its top spot, Gartner did note that emerging smartphone players Oppo and Vivo were among the fastest growing, with Oppo growing 151 percent thanks to its strength in China and Vivo growing 285 percent thanks to its strength in India.
The year of the digital giants
Gartner has predicted that by 2021, 20 percent of all activities an individual engages in will involve at least one of the top seven digital giants, those being Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.
“As enterprises increasingly digitalise their products and services, digital giants can become involved in, or even take over, the digital experience,” Gartner reported.
Gartner’s Lovelock added that the digital giants would effectively become gatekeepers for “any business that delivers digital content and services to consumers”.
"Any company that wants to engage consumers in, or through, their digital world will have to consider engaging with one or more of these digital giants," he said.
Lovelock went on to say that those digital giants were chiefly consumer-focused and that there was still room in the market for some B2B players to take the lead.
"In the B2B world of selling technology solutions to large enterprises, some of the digital giants have already had significant impact," he said.
"For example, Amazon Web Services' cloud is disrupting enterprise hardware and software businesses dramatically. Apple's iOS devices are dominant within enterprise mobility, and Google's presence beyond search into browsers, cloud office and more is growing."
The top 26 companies are:
1. Apple (US$218.1 billion)
2. Samsung Vendor Group (US$139.1 billion)
3. Google (US$90.1 billion)
4. Microsoft (US$85.7 billion)
5. IBM (US$77.8 billion)
6. AT&T (US$70.5 billion)
7. Dell Technologies Vendor Group (US$59.5 billion)
8. Intel (US$57.6 billion)
9. HP Inc (US$48.0 billion)
10. HPE (US$46.1 billion)
11. Lenovo (US$42.6 billion)
12. Amazon (US$41.9 billion)
13. Sony (US$41.7 billion)
14. NTT Vendor Group (US$41.3 billion)
15. Comcast (US$39.7 billion)
16. Oracle (US$37.0 billion)
17. Huawei (US$36.6 billion)
18. Cisco (US$37 billion)
19. Panasonic (US$35.4 billion)
20. LG Vendor Group (US$34.2 billion)
21. Accenture (US$34.1 billion)
22. SoftBank (US$31.5 billion)
23. Verizon (US$31 billion)
24. Fujitsu Vendor Group (US$28.7 billion)
25. Facebook (US$27.6 billion)
26. Canon (US$26.8 billion)
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