If you want to understand how the big technology companies are doing, just follow the money.
Three companies dominate the tech landscape in 2014: Apple, the Google and Microsoft. Although they compete directly and indirectly, in various segments, each company has its own distinct financial personality.
The best way to understand the differences between these three companies is to look at the detailed reports they are required to submit each quarter.
Let's look at the sources of revenue for each of them, as reported in their quarterly reports for the second half of 2013.
Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),
Apple is a hardware company first and foremost, with the vast majority of its revenue coming from products that didn't exist seven years ago: the iPhone and the iPad. What is even more impressive is how the business has managed to generate income from sales musics through iTunes, but also from apps as the iOS market has grown.
Before two χρόνια, τα έσοδα της Google προερχόταν σχεδόν εξ ολοκλήρου από τις διαφημίσεις. Η εικόνα άλλαξε ελαφρώς με την προσπάθεια της Google να προχωρήσει στην παραγωγή υλικού, μέσω της εξαγοράς της Motorola Mobility, as you can see in the diagram. Until the sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo that brought things back to where they were. The "Other" category, which includes digital content and non-Motorola hardware products, is still a small fraction of the company's revenue.
Microsoft
Beginning last summer, Microsoft has changed the way it declares its revenue, making it almost impossible to make a direct comparison of how it has been a business in the past two years. 2014, Microsoft, is dominated by software and business services, as shown by the two slices in the circle. Commercial Licensing, which accounts for about half of Microsoft's revenue, covers Windows Server products, Volume Licensing versions of Windows and Office for Business. Business Others include the rapidly growing services of the company's business, such as Windows Azure and the commercial versions of Office 365.
The first publication was ZDNet
