IBM Celebrates 100 Years: What Other Tech Companies Will?

This week, IBM celebrated a major milestone: its 100th year in business.

The centennial is especially impressive for a company involved in technology, an industry that is known to "eat its young" and regularly watches once-lucrative companies upended by startups and innovators offering faster, easier, smaller and cheaper processes.

IBM has reinvented itself many times, evolving from manufacturing machines that process data on punch-cards to making hard drives and floppy disks to inventing the bar code. Its fortunes were at risk in the 1990s, but IBM successfully reengineered itself and remains one of the largest tech companies in business. The AP notes, "With around $100 billion in annual revenue today, IBM is ranked 18th in the Fortune 500. It's three times the size of Google and almost twice as big as Apple. Its market capitalization of around $200 billion beats Google and allowed IBM last month to briefly surpass its old nemesis, Microsoft."

How has IBM survived? The Economist argues that IBM's success is tied to its mission statement, rather than to specific gadgets or products.

"IBM’s secret is that it is built around an idea that transcends any particular product or technology," writes The Economist. "Its strategy is to package technology for use by businesses. At first this meant making punch-card tabulators, but IBM moved on to magnetic-tape systems, mainframes, PCs, and most recently services and consulting. Building a company around an idea, rather than a specific technology, makes it easier to adapt when industry 'platform shifts' occur."

What other tech companies appear in position to survive until their 100-year anniversary? Apple, Amazon and Facebook, predicts The Economist, noting that Apple has "a powerful organizing idea: take the latest technology, package it in a simple, elegant form and sell it at a premium price" while Amazon's maxim is to "make it easy for people to buy stuff." On the other hand, Dell, Cisco and Microsoft may fare less well, in The Economist's estimation.

We want to hear from you: What current tech companies do you think will live to celebrate their centennials? Vote in the slideshow, or weigh in in the comments section below.

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Comments

[Jared Jentzsch]

11:36 AM on 06/19/2011

Do you mean 'Which other companies. . . ' Dear god, get your grammar right.

[tob221]

09:15 PM on 06/18/2011

Sooo many years till we should even think about their 100 year. Facebook 2004, I hope huffingtonpost will be around to write about in 93 years, haha

[Carlos Lomba Jr]

12:37 PM on 06/18/2011

Myspace dying out...FB is getting old...Twitter will live on..i found if you follow the right people everything you need to know will follow..then you can post at the source..then what do I know :/

[Hooshang Danesh II]

12:24 PM on 06/18/2011

not sure if facebook will make it through--the traffic is way down already--I hope amazon makes it--

[ewj1]

10:45 AM on 06/18/2011

Only three companies on the list have successfully rolled out different product groups, Amazon, HP, and Cisco. That is what made/makes IBM a hundred year old company. The other company that will probably make it is Motorola which has 17 years to go.

Apple, Facebook, and MS issue is founders syndrome. Apple will be brought by another company in about 25 years ( I predict RedHat), Facebook will fade away a la myspace, MS will exist and possibly on make a 3rd turnaround.

Google is so dependent on search that unless it gets some "money-making" wins it will go the way companies like Gateway, Compaq, Yahoo, AOL, and Netscape.

[William Haines]

01:58 AM on 06/18/2011

The one notable exception that I see is Motorola, not because they have the absolute best products on the market, but they only have to squeeze out 17 more years. Did anybody else think of that?

[Linda from Deerfield]

04:54 AM on 07/30/2011

Yes.

[Entropy-Cheat]

01:50 AM on 06/18/2011

Facebook as a company will never last that long. However, the idea of social networking, and the medium of the internet will perhaps remain.

[free lance photogrophher]

11:43 PM on 06/17/2011

i hope the internet is still around in 100 years, forget about facebook!
read this, corporations want to stop the internet:

http://tenmillionslaves.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/how-corporations-are-trying-to-kill-the-internet/

[JoeDoorman]

07:51 PM on 06/17/2011

Facebook is too greedy for it to stick around for 100 years. MZ is one creepy dude, his blank stare seems inhuman. in time he will do something really sickening. You know its coming. Then people will move on, in the US first... then other countries will follow. It's already happening.

[Kmuzu]

07:20 PM on 06/17/2011

What exactly does Microsoft offer that is not offered by other companies and is cheaper. Actually what does MS offer that is even unique or original?

[ewj1]

10:24 AM on 06/18/2011

I am happy to see that you do not let reality get in the way of your thinking. You make the world proud.

[John Crane]

03:56 PM on 06/17/2011

Microsoft and HP,definitely yes. Apple definitely no. The company will crumble after Steve Jobs is gone.

[NHBill]

06:33 PM on 06/17/2011

Apple won't be the same after Jobs but it's just too damn big now to crumble.
PLUS they've had plenty to time to plan for life after Steve, something most companies do not get to do.
As for MS if we are truly at the beginning of the "Post PC" era no one can be encouraged by MS's role so far.

[Alexander JW]

05:51 PM on 07/22/2011

Apple may survive briefly after the passing of Jobs but only on his ideas and ruthlessness.

Jobs is too egotistical to have allowed (I stress the importance of that word) anyone at Apple to 'plan for life' after his has ended.

[NHBill]

03:21 PM on 06/17/2011

I wouldn't bet on the social media.
The question for the other companies is can they reinvent themselves time and time again the way IBM and Apple have?
Intel will probably be run by robots on their 100th birthday
It a fun if meaningless question.

[garder54]

03:19 PM on 06/17/2011

I don't see the social networking sites sticking around for a century.

[crayola 08b]

02:58 PM on 06/17/2011

There's a recent article in The Economist about this very question. Contrary to certain opinions people have made here Microsoft will not make it to the big 100, though Apple will. Which makes sense, Apple has the infrastructure already in place, Microsoft is too dependent on Windows. Here's the article:

http://www.economist.com/node/18805483

[ewj1]

11:01 AM on 06/18/2011

I am an avid reader of the Economist but their predictions have almost always been wrong, Just look at their past predictions. http://www.economist.com/worldin/2006
In addition, the company with the most proprietary software in cars today is MS. Which the article you pointed to neglected to mention, but implied was important.

The Econimist predicted AOL was the company of the future after the AOL-TW merger.

[Pucker]

02:46 PM on 06/17/2011

Most likely --> Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Intel, and Hewlett Packard (1930's start helps)...in that order. But there are always Black Swans and never guarantees. These companies at least provide infrastructure and have a propensity to adapt.

Apple isn't on the list, and as much love as they get.....they haven't built the infrastructure (outside of brand) necessary to be relevant for the long haul. There will be a point when devices are all commodity items - and that's the core of the business. Apple's lack of real presence in the cloud and lack of search engine base is going to hurt....look at what Windows Phone and Android are doing with cloud based voice recognition, for just one example. That requires a lot of technology that Apple just doesn't have. Their model of being 'first' doesn't lend itself to inheritance....cryogenics aside, Job's won't be introducing anything in 2050. It's a company designed to be very strong, but only in the near term.

Anything with a viral nature, particularly social networks, will, by their very nature, die just like they expanded (see Myspace). I think Facebook is probably here, in one form or another, for a long haul, but could see an open standard ultimately replacing all of them. The valuation of these companies is absolutely ludicrous, obviously.

[NHBill]

03:24 PM on 06/17/2011

Apple now has the infrastructure.
And the resources to last.
This story broke today: Apple could buy the mobile phone industry!

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/17/asymco-apple-could-buy-the-mobile-phone-industry/

Plus they have the culture of flexibility and inovation.

[ewj1]

11:05 AM on 06/18/2011

Apple is the new AOL. People who like Apple it can only see what it is like today. What makes Apple great today is it focus (not flexibility). Apple stopped innovating three years ago. Since then all of it's meaningful advances were brought or copied.