Technological innovations are moving faster now than ever before. Because of this, technology-driven companies need to not only to keep up with the many changes coming from the outside, but to innovate themselves in order to stay relevant and always be prepared to embrace something new.
The proper analysis of big data is essential to stay relevant - this is made even more clear when you consider most of the top 10 most innovative companies of 2016 are digital-driven.
10. IBM
International Business Machines (IBM) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York. It has 386,558 employees and operates in over 170 countries.
IBM has a large variety of products and services, ranging from cloud computing to hardware. One of their major services consists of IT outsourcing. While being one of the most reliable names in technology, IBM invests on new instigating ideas: recently they invested $3 billion into research to create a neural chip mimicking the human brain.
9. Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It has 15,724 employees and operates worldwide (except in countries where the service is blocked).
From its humble beginnings, Facebook has been expanding and experimenting. At first, the social network was limited to Harvard students, until its potential became clear and more universities were allowed to join. In 2006, anyone (over a certain age) could sign in. In 2010, Facebook was the biggest social network in the world and it has maintained that spot since.
The service has been growing steadily every year, with Facebook becoming one of the most important business tools for marketing and advertising.
In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook’s CEO) invested in the company called Oculus - a move that kickstarted a lot of investment in Virtual Reality alternatives.
8. Toyota
Toyota Motor Company is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It has 346,219 employees and operates worldwide.
The company is known for designing and producing automobiles, including the Prius family, the world’s highest selling hybrid. But their investments go beyond what a simple automaker - in 2015, the company stated they would be investing $1 billion on Artificial Intelligence for the next 5 years (CNN Money).
In 2010, Toyota established a partnership with Tesla to work on electric vehicles.
Lastly, in 2016, they invested in Uber - the transportation company that operates through a cell phone app where users can ask for a trip, the same way a taxi would work. Uber is also present in BCG Perspectives’ list of Most Innovative Companies of 2016 (BCG).
7. Samsung
Samsung is a South Korean company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It has 489,000 employees and operates worldwide.
Samsung has many industrial subsidiaries that branch out into different areas - Samsung Electronics being the most well-known worldwide. Among their other areas of influence, there’s Samsung Engineering (construction), Samsung Everland (theme park in South Korea), Samsung Life Insurance (life insurance) and Samsung Heavy Industries (shipbuilders).
The most notable recent innovation worth mentioning for the year 2016 was when Samsung started working with Microsoft on an Internet of Things (IoT) integration for Windows 10.
Want to know more about The Internet of Things? Read Will The Internet Of Things Revolution Happen in 2017!
6. Netflix
Netflix is an online media streaming service headquartered in Los Gatos, California. It has over 4000 employees and operates worldwide.
Netflix was the one company that understood where the DVD rental market was headed and decided to act before everyone else, resulting in a streaming service that, while not an original idea, completely revolutionized the market by offering a great variety of movies and TV shows on demand for an unbelievably cheap monthly pay.
The real kicker that set Netflix apart from other streaming services was the sheer number of Netflix Originals released since 2013 (starting with the first season of two still running shows - House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black) and their consistent quality.
Netflix’s shows proudly represent minorities in starring roles, something often missing from most cable TV shows. The most notable recent example is Sense8, a show starring a colorful cast of 8 characters - each from different countries, beliefs, and sexualities.
5. Amazon
Amazon.com is an e-commerce and cloud computing company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It has 286,900 employees and operates worldwide.
What started as a bookstore is now one of the largest and most variety e-commerce stores in the world. Apart from selling everything from DVDs to consumer electronics, they now also produce their own electronics, such as the e-reader Kindle family and the Amazon Echo - a smart home hub that responds to voice commands.
4. Microsoft
Microsoft is a technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. It has 114,000 employees and operates worldwide.
Microsoft Corporation has a variety of services and products to offer. It started by dominating personal computers with the Windows OS and their set of office software, including Word and Excel. They also have their own search engine (Bing) and video game console (Xbox).
When Google implemented an online office offering the same as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint for free, Microsoft quickly adapted to the competition by offering reduced prices and a better integration with online services.
When Windows 10 finally came out, they offered a completely free upgrade to the new system for a limited time. The new OS included their new internet browser called Edge - a substitute to the outdated Internet Explorer.
3. Tesla
Tesla Motors is an automaker and energy storage company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It has over 30,000 employees and operates worldwide.
Tesla received a lot of attention recently for their investment in electric cars - in 2016 they achieved an important milestone of having the second highest selling plug-in, right behind the Nissan Leaf. By the end of the past year, they had sold over 186,000 electric cars worldwide.
2. Google
Google is a technology company that offers internet-based services and products. It has over 57,000 employees and operates worldwide.
Google has come a long way since starting out as a simple search engine. Today, it is the most used search engine worldwide by a large majority (SEW), but it also develops software and hardware.
The company revolutionized the way internet-based services worked, offering a large variety of tools for personal and professional usage to any user with an account entirely free of charge. Among these, there’s Keep (note and reminders), Docs and Sheets (same purpose as Word and Excel from Microsoft, but working entirely inside the browser and saving on the cloud), Youtube (video streaming), Gmail (email client), and many others.
Google is listed as the most visited website in the world. (Alexa)
1. Apple
Apple Inc. is a technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, known for designing and selling online services, electronics, and software. It has 115,000 employees and operates worldwide.
According to Steve Jobs, Apple was never supposed to invent “next big things” - the core of the company was to adapt the existing technologies to better use and make them accessible.
While everyone was still worrying about cables, Apple got rid of them, opting mostly for Bluetooth connection for their devices. While everyone was working on versatility (therefore compromising security), Apple implemented a system that lacks the variety of software comparing to Windows, but they compensate for that with power and stability. It’s one of the main reasons Apple computers are the best choice for professional musicians, 3D artists, filmmakers and graphic artists.
Did you check the full report on the most innovative companies of 2016? Do you think there’s anyone missing? What are your comments on these top 10? Be sure to let us know and like us on Facebook for more awesome articles published daily!
