Top analytics firm Gartner recently revealed their list of the top 100 global vendors in the IT market for 2016, based on their revenue across market segments (excluding communication services). Some of the brands to top the list are sure to be no surprise. For instance, Apple was the largest vendor in the group, with more than $218 billion in IT revenue – making it approximately $79 billion larger than the second largest vendor, “Samsung”.
Gartner analysts had already predicted these findings during the conference for Technology and Innovation, which took place in the middle of June this year. For the first time, Gartner published their ranking of the largest technology company based on revenue estimates across the IT market segments. Now, business leaders will be able to use the Gartner Global Top 100 IT list to help them examine competitive performance.
The Shifting Needs of IT Buyers
According to senior analyst and vice president at Gartner, John-David Lovelock, the needs of modern IT buyers are now changing, with more CEOs looking for ways to grow their companies through IT. The “Nexus of Forces” has emerged as a focus point for many years.
The highest-ranking three vendors, including Google, Samsung Vendor Group, and Apple contribute much of their size to their alignment in the Nexus of Forces. From the beginning, Microsoft was significant, having grown into leadership during the web and e-business development boom. Since then, Microsoft has managed to adjust and remain relevant through the ages. Similarly, IBM gained market dominance during the early years of IT markets. The need for these services will remain, but will become more commoditised and less of a driver for new spending.
The Digital Giants in 2017
As enterprises grow increasingly “digital” with their services and products, giants like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon can become more involved in the digital experience. According to Gartner predictions, by the time we reach 2021, around 20% of the activities we engage in will involve at least one of the seven top digital giants.
These giants are becoming gatekeepers for any business delivering digital services and content to customers, according to Lovelock. Any company hoping to engage their consumer in the digital world will need to engage with at least one digital giant. The focus of these giants has been often on the consumer, employee, and citizen world. Because they haven’t been focused on business to business (B2B) yet, there are opportunities for other companies to take the lead.
Learning More from the Gartner Report
Gartner’s clients can learn more from the full report, which features Gartner’s ranking of various IT companies. It’s based on the Gartner profiles for vendor revenue. A “vendor” for the purpose of this profile, is a trading entity responsible for selling a finished product directly to end-users, or into a channel. A trading entity may be a joint venture, subsidiary, or division, so long as they maintain separate sales, marketing, and customer support architecture, independent of parenting companies.
Data for all 100 vendors in the report can be found on the Revenue Profile Portal at Gartner. There’s even an interactive tool available that allows for dynamic comparisons between vendor revenue across various market segments.
