The Masters Of Technology & Innovation.

Tech News Enclave Community News
1

The Masters Of Technology & Innovation.

![](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/TechEnclave/partners_logos_bottom.jpg)

    1. Apple ComputerAs the world moves toward open standards, the last true believer in closed systems refuses to capitulate. Funny thing: No one is asking Apple to change. That’s because the computermaker turned consumer electronics powerhouse has made a virtue of proprietary control, consistently delivering quality and flair. The company sold 8.2 million iPods in 2004, and iTunes accounted for 70 percent of legal music downloads, leading to exceptional revenue and profit in Q4. With such a foothold in music, can an assault on TV be far behind?

    2. GoogleThe Internet’s librarian turns out to be its biggest power broker. Fueled by $3.2 billion in 2004 revenue, Google fulfills 200 million searches of 8 billion Web pages a day, determining which sites are seen and which remain buried. And new initiatives keep coming: local search, maps, movie showtimes, searchable television content. A recent post on Slashdot.org puts it neatly: "In a few years, you’ll be driving your Google to the Google to buy some Google for your Google.

    3. Samsung ElectronicsIf China is the number one Asian threat to the US consumer electronics industry, number two is the republic of Samsung. The South Korean company racked up profits of $10.8 billion in 2004, more than Sony, Matsushita, Motorola, and Nokia combined. It leads in flash memory and computer displays and ranks third in cell phones. With 15 R&D centers around the globe and the perfect test market in its backyard, Samsung gives even the cut-rate Chinese reason to tremble.

    4. Amazon.comJeff Bezos is finding that it pays to gamble. Not long ago he bet that customers would come to Amazon for more than books; last Thanksgiving weekend, his company sold more electronics items than books for the first time. Now Amazon’s CEO is wagering beyond ecommerce. In September, Bezos rolled out a search engine, A9.com, that offers recommendations: “If you liked that site, you’ll love this one.” That’s more than a shopping service; it’s an assault on Google and Microsoft.

    5. Yahoo!Ten years after two Stanford engineering students undertook a quixotic effort to categorize every page on the Web, Yahoo! is set to storm Hollywood. It has revenue: $3.6 billion in 2004. It has eyeballs: 345 million pairs every month. It has broadband partnerships with reality TV kingpin Mark Burnett and Entertainment Tonight. CEO Terry Semel has hired ABC exec Lloyd Braun, the guy who green-lighted Desperate Housewives, to cook up compelling shows. Can he direct Yahoo! to Wisteria Lane?

    6. Electronic ArtsThe videogame industry has grown up. The first generation of gamers is over 30 and can afford every new release. At the same time, developers wield the upper hand in negotiations with movie studios, record companies, and sports leagues. The uppermost hand of all: Electronic Arts, with 27 platinum titles in 2004. Despite Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, sports are still EA’s strength. In December, the company announced an exclusive five-year deal with the NFL, sending competitors to ride the pine.

    7. GenentechIt’s as if the Knack were still on the charts. Genentech, founded in 1976, has dodged biotech’s one-hit-wonder syndrome. It now has 13 discoveries on the market, thanks to the FDA’s November approval of the lung cancer treatment Tarceva. Avastin, for colon cancer, notched $555 million in sales last year, but could reach several billion annually if it’s approved for ovarian and lung cancers as well.

    8. ToyotaWhat car won Consumer Reports’ most recent customer satisfaction survey? The Prius. Toyota’s hybrid model is taking over the road, boosting fuel efficiency to 60 mpg and taunting US automakers to catch up. The only roadblock is cost, but there’s good reason to believe Toyota can get past it. Anticipating sales of 100,000 hybrid vehicles in 2005, the company is doubling production, and third parties like Toshiba and Panasonic are ramping up assembly lines to supply parts. Economies of scale are dead ahead.

    9. Infosys TechnologiesThe caricature of the Indian outsourcing industry as a voracious monster bent on devouring US jobs isn’t just oversimplified, it’s obsolete. Case in point: Infosys. The Indian coding shop, which garnered $1.1 billion in sales last year, is hiring 500 employees for Infosys Consulting, a $20 million foray into high-end IT advice based in - guess again - Fremont, California. Dirt-cheap outsourcing plus strategic guidance makes for a powerful combination - and one that moves jobs back to the US.

    10. eBayOnce the world’s biggest yard sale, eBay has become the epitome of ecommerce: a global marketplace responsible last year for $34.2 billion worth of auctions and fixed-price sales. With no inventory costs, eBay generates net margins of 24 percent. Meanwhile, the company’s PayPal division is becoming the standard for online payments. With 56 million active users, eBay has a big say in what gets sold online and how we pay for it.

    11. SAPLarry Ellison so fears SAP that he bought PeopleSoft. Bill Gates once tried to buy SAP itself. What are they afraid of? The German software house gives its 26,000-plus corporate customers a way to integrate the various apps that run large-scale enterprises, from inventory to payroll to shipping. And unlike Oracle and Microsoft, SAP’s sales pitch doesn’t push customers to buy a particular OS or database.

    12. PixarWhy didn’t anyone tell Hollywood it was so easy? Release just six movies in a decade and your studio will be worth more than $5 billion. OK, it’s not as easy as Pixar makes it look. The digital animator made CG de rigueur in feature-length cartoons, forcing Disney to shutter its traditionalstudio. Pixar’s latest opus, The Incredibles, grossed $260 million at the box office, and hopes are high for next summer’s Cars. You won’t find a more perfect marriage of art, tech, and commerce.

    13. CiscoTech companies rarely age gracefully, but Cisco is embracing middle age more like George Clooney than Mickey Rourke. Increasingly, the network finally is the computer, making the hub-and-router manufacturer more relevant than ever. CEO John Chambers insists double-digit growth can continue even as the company’s core markets mature. He’s using his $16.5 billion war chest to fund both internal R&D and shrewd acquisitions like wireless LAN specialist Airespace. The goal: an adaptive, self-defending network.

    14. IBMIBM has proven surprisingly dexterous not only in entering markets but in exiting them as well. CEO Sam Palmisano’s decision to sell the PC division to discount computer mandarin Lenovo is the latest example of IBM’s ability to move on after a product has played out; he did the same with disk drives and memory chips. Meanwhile, the company’s early embrace of RFID shows it’s not afraid to place bold new bets.

    15. NetflixIs there a happy ending? In 1999, upstart Netflix disrupted the movie-rental industry by lending DVDs by mail for a flat monthly fee. Now it’s a favorite death-pool candidate, thanks to competition from Blockbuster and Wal-Mart. CEO Reed Hastings has responded by dropping the monthly price, and it seems to be working: Netflix had 2.6 million subscribers as of year-end 2004 and in the fourth quarter enjoyed its lowest churn ever. But watch out for Amazon.com!

    16. Dell

    17. General Electric

    18. Medtronic

    19. Intel

    20. Salesforce.com

    21. Vodafone

    22. Flextronics

    23. EMC

    24. Nvidia

    25. Jetblue

    26. FedEx

    27. Monsanto

    28. Microsoft

    29. Nokia

    30. Costco

    31. Comcast

    32. Pfizer

    33. Li &Fung

    34. Taiwan Semiconductor

    35. Gen-probe

    36. Citigroup

    37. L-3 Communications

    38. Ameritrade

    39. Exelon

    40. BP

    6 That Missed the Cut
    In a world of relentless innovation, only the most agile companies stay on top. These all have had moments of brilliance, but none have managed to keep pace with shifts in technology and more nimble competitors.

      [*]IAC/InterActiveCorp Even with AskJeeves, Diller's Net conglomerate has failed to pan out. Having spun off Expedia and Hotels.com, IAC is bottom-heavy in home shopping.

      [*]InditexThe Spanish just-in-time fashion designer and retailer is executing well on its plans, but it has been severely outflanked in the US by rival H&M.

      [*]JDS UniphaseDemand for JDSU’s optical networking products remains one-fifth of its 2001 peak. The erstwhile highflier no longer sets the agenda in net hardware.

      [*]Level 3Voice over IP was supposed to save Level 3’s cash-burning bacon, but the company lost $216 million last year and nearly $1 billion in the two years before that.

      [*]RyanairThe European discount airline continues to deliver financially, but it lacks the vision of its stateside counterpart, JetBlue.

      [*]WPP GroupThe advertising behemoth’s never-*ending string of acquisitions is starting to look more like growth for growth’s sake than a coherent strategy.

      Source: **Wired.com **