The Most Innovative Companies Over Time

The Most Innovative Companies Over Time

According to an annual ranking by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Apple has been the world’s leader in sparking change since 2005. Fellow tech behemoths Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet round out the top 4 of 2021’s ranking (“GAMA”):

( @Marc45 :wink: )

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Interesting albeit a rather short timeframe. To be honest, we could probably add another 10-15 years prior to that and see similar results.

Question being going forward, will they stay where they are - I mean Apple had its iPod, iPhone, iPad and now iWatch, I can only really see them next going into more subscription services.

How many gadgets do we need?

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BCG’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2021:

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I’m surprised to see Coca-Cola. Are they innovative in churning out new products, or have they done any innovation in terms of the greater good regarding technology, social change, energy savings, the usual innovative stuff?

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Apple was able to reinvent themselves across decades. From PCs, to mobile (iPod, iPhone, iPad), with software and subscriptions (iTunes, Apple TV), besides the some gadgets (iWatch, AirPods).

Apple is growing it’s streaming/subscriptions services (maybe it’s their future growth strategy), TV (vs. Netflix), iTunes (vs. Spotify) and gaming/app store (vs. Alphabet/Google). After fighting other companies in several fields:

  • Desktop computers: IBM, HP, Dell, etc
  • Operating Systems: Windows (Microsoft)
  • Mobile Operating Systems: Android (Alphabet/Google)
  • Mobile: Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung and other Android manufacturers

I’m not an Apple fan, but I have admit their innovative ability and vision to stay on top.

Also interesting to see that 3 auto makers on 2013 Top have fallen from that top. And in 2021 Tesla is the only auto maker present.

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Maybe it’s considered innovative, due to their buyouts or their stakes in new companies, like Monster Beverage.

It’s a common strategy of mature companies, buying the younger and innovative competitors, these way, they kill the competition and stay updated with new business lines.

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Yeah I think these tech giants like Amazon, which has acquired 100+ companies, work on some cutting-edge tech that most people never hear about. All we know is their Amazon Prime, Apple’s Macs/iPhones, etc.

But all the AI, machine learning, logistics technology being developed (or acquired) in the background is where the innovation is actually happening.

But LOL - would never have expected IBM to be here in 2021… maybe they meant 1991? :smiley:

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Tech companies are nuts for this approach. Acquiring left right and centre to kill competition.

Also the Big Pharmas and Biotechs do the same approach, buying smaller companies with new products and patents.

Other sectors also do the same, e.g. Visa attempted to buy Plaid, only to be reject by US regulators due to antitrust concerns.

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@RLX thanks for sharing it, you always share really interesting posts. It’s funny to see that for 15 years Apple and Microsoft have stayed in the same place.

In the past 20 years, innovation has been synonymous with IT/Computers/Phone. I also think that in the next 20 years, the innovation will be Biotech and Genomics.

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