Technology
Microsoft 2.0 – A New Company Under Satya Nadella
Microsoft 2.0 – A New Company Under Satya Nadella
In the late 1990s, Microsoft could do no wrong. The company, founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, was the most valuable in the world and Windows was selling like hotcakes. In December of 1999, the company even set a record by reaching nearly $620 billion in market capitalization at the height of the tech bubble.
The company would subsequently begin to lose its way. Bill Gates passed the torch to Steve Ballmer in 2000, but remained on as the Chief Software Architect until 2006. Later on that decade, Microsoft had its first negative earnings quarter in 23 years.
The new kids on the block like Apple, Google, and Facebook would surpass Microsoft in terms of the “cool” factor and become the de facto employment targets for computer science grads everywhere. They were building more innovative products, and hit the right market segments. The final blow was more recent, when Apple topped Microsoft’s record-setting market capitalization in absolute terms, though not yet from an inflation-adjusted perspective.
Criticism of Ballmer reached its pinnacle in 2012. A damning Forbes article cited Ballmer as “the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company”, claiming that he had “steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets)”. Shortly after, Bill Gates announced as Chairman that Ballmer would leave sometime within the next 12 months.
It is since then that Microsoft has made a remarkable transition, with plenty of credit to new CEO Satya Nadella at the helm. The company, which is famously known for its fiercely uncooperative nature, has started collaborating with other large tech companies including Apple.
Microsoft’s stock is now lurking near its highest point since early 2000 and the company has new and exciting products again like the HoloLens, Windows 10, Delve, Skype translator, and Sway. Nadella is also taking the company on a journey to the hot areas of technology, such as the internet of things and wearables. It’s only a year into Nadella’s journey as CEO, but the future again looks like it could be bright.
Original graphic from: UAB School of Business
Brands
How Tech Logos Have Evolved Over Time
From complete overhauls to more subtle tweaks, these tech logos have had quite a journey. Featuring: Google, Apple, and more.
How Tech Logos Have Evolved Over Time
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
One would be hard-pressed to find a company that has never changed its logo. Granted, some brands—like Rolex, IBM, and Coca-Cola—tend to just have more minimalistic updates. But other companies undergo an entire identity change, thus necessitating a full overhaul.
In this graphic, we visualized the evolution of prominent tech companies’ logos over time. All of these brands ranked highly in a Q1 2024 YouGov study of America’s most famous tech brands. The logo changes are sourced from 1000logos.net.
How Many Times Has Google Changed Its Logo?
Google and Facebook share a 98% fame rating according to YouGov. But while Facebook’s rise was captured in The Social Network (2010), Google’s history tends to be a little less lionized in popular culture.
For example, Google was initially called “Backrub” because it analyzed “back links” to understand how important a website was. Since its founding, Google has undergone eight logo changes, finally settling on its current one in 2015.
Company | Number of Logo Changes |
---|---|
8 | |
HP | 8 |
Amazon | 6 |
Microsoft | 6 |
Samsung | 6 |
Apple | 5* |
Note: *Includes color changes. Source: 1000Logos.net
Another fun origin story is Microsoft, which started off as Traf-O-Data, a traffic counter reading company that generated reports for traffic engineers. By 1975, the company was renamed. But it wasn’t until 2012 that Microsoft put the iconic Windows logo—still the most popular desktop operating system—alongside its name.
And then there’s Samsung, which started as a grocery trading store in 1938. Its pivot to electronics started in the 1970s with black and white television sets. For 55 years, the company kept some form of stars from its first logo, until 1993, when the iconic encircled blue Samsung logo debuted.
Finally, Apple’s first logo in 1976 featured Isaac Newton reading under a tree—moments before an apple fell on his head. Two years later, the iconic bitten apple logo would be designed at Steve Jobs’ behest, and it would take another two decades for it to go monochrome.
-
Green1 week ago
Ranked: The Countries With the Most Air Pollution in 2023
-
Automotive2 weeks ago
Almost Every EV Stock is Down After Q1 2024
-
AI2 weeks ago
The Stock Performance of U.S. Chipmakers So Far in 2024
-
Markets2 weeks ago
Charted: Big Four Market Share by S&P 500 Audits
-
Real Estate2 weeks ago
Ranked: The Most Valuable Housing Markets in America
-
Money2 weeks ago
Which States Have the Highest Minimum Wage in America?
-
AI2 weeks ago
Ranked: Semiconductor Companies by Industry Revenue Share
-
Travel2 weeks ago
Ranked: The World’s Top Flight Routes, by Revenue