BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

The World's Largest Tech Companies 2016: Apple Bests Samsung, Microsoft And Alphabet

This article is more than 7 years old.

When in April Apple announced the first ever decline in iPhone sales, some observers questioned if the company's best days are behind it. Despite the angst, Tim Cook's Apple continues to outshine its peers in every metric that counts. Among global tech companies it has the highest revenue ($233 billion), profit ($53 billion), assets ($239 billion) and market cap ($586 billion) for the past year.

These results make Apple not only the biggest tech company in the world, but also bumps it to the 8th largest company in the world- -marking a return to the global top ten--and 4th largest in the U.S. on the 2016 Forbes Global 2000.

The Global 2000 is FORBES' annual ranking of the planet's largest and most powerful public companies and is based on four equally-weighted metrics: revenue, profit, assets and market value. The 2016 list includes companies from 63 countries. In the last year, these companies together produced $35 trillion in revenue and $2.4 trillion in profit. They have total assets worth $162 trillion and a combined market value of $44 trillion. (Here’s how we crunched the numbers.

While China is sapping large company dominance from the United States -- for the second year in a row Chinese banks held the top three spots on the full list -- Apple sits atop a heavily American tech list.

Fourteen of the 25 largest tech companies in the world hail from the U.S., including seven of the top 10: Apple , Microsoft , Alphabet , Intel IBM , Cisco Systems and Oracle . The Asia-Pacific region is well represented the bulk of the rest of the list with eight companies-- three from China, two each from Taiwan and South Korea and one from India. Germany, Sweden and Finland round out the top 25 in tech.

South Korea's Samsung takes the number two tech slot, with $177 billion in revenue, $16.5 billion in profit, $206.5 billion in assets and a $216 billion market value. Next up Microsoft, had $86.5 billion in revenue, $10 billion in profit, assets of $182 billion and a $407 billion market value.

For more coverage of the FORBES Global 2000 ranking of the world’s largest public companies, see below:

 The World's Largest Companies 2016

 China's Largest Companies 2016

 Europe's Largest Companies 2016

The Largest U.S. Companies 2016: Berkshire, Banks And Apple

 The World's Largest Banks: China Keeps Top Three Spots But JPMorgan Rises

2016 Global 2000: The World's Largest Transportation Companies

2016 Global 2000: The World's Largest Drug And Biotech Companies

 From McDonald's To Carnival Cruises, The World's Biggest Restaurants, Hotels And Casinos

 The World's Largest Oil And Gas Companies 2016: Exxon Is Still King

 The World's Largest Apparel Companies 2016: Christian Dior, Nike And Inditex Top The List

The World's Largest Retailers 2016: Wal-Mart Dominates But Amazon Is Catching Up

The World's Largest Food And Beverage Companies 2016: Chocolate, Beer And Soda Lead The List

Follow me on TwitterSend me a secure tip