The largest company in the WebCertain ‘internet companies extract’ of the FT Global 500 is Hong Kong’s China Mobile with a staggering market value of $298 billion, beating Google into a cocked hat in 12th place at a ‘tiny’ $104 billion and after such companies as Microsoft, AT&T, IBM, Vodafone, Cisco, Intel and Apple. WebCertain’s extract of the FT Global 500 survey shows only companies in the FT Global list having an impact or connection with the internet – and includes major mobile telecoms and fixed line telecoms companies.
An examination of the changing fortunes of the global companies by rank is shown in the ‘Internet Movers and Shakers’ chart below which tells us that the major wealth generation is currently with the major mobile handset manufacturers – with Research in Motion (Blackberry) coming top and with Apple not too far behind no doubt thanks to its iPhone launch.
Bearing in mind that it is already the case that in many countries people access the internet more frequently by mobile phone than PC and that mobile advertising and e-commerce systems are at last beginning to be taken seriously, it seems that there is a shift of wealth towards mobile internet access.
What’s intriguing about this – and the thinking behind this article’s title – is that Google fades into a relatively obscure bit player when the world is viewed in this way. You could describe Google as a “handy mobile application everyone would love to have on their handset” – but not the organisation which is either driving or controlling the market place.
The original list is published in by the Financial Times and includes all large listed global companies by market capitalisation (and not turnover). Source: FT Global 500
Andy Atkins-Kruger
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