The digital tech era has led tech companies to reach the largest market cap. The two most common tech giants of the world are Alphabet and Microsoft.
Both the companies are based in the United States of America. But both the companies offer distinct differences to the users.
Key Takeaways
- Alphabet is a parent company of Google, while Microsoft is a tech giant that operates in various domains.
- Alphabet’s main revenue comes from advertising, whereas Microsoft’s primary revenue sources are software and hardware products.
- Alphabet focuses more on cutting-edge technologies like AI and self-driving cars than Microsoft.
Alphabet vs Microsoft
The difference between Alphabet and Microsoft is that Alphabet was founded in the year 2015. On the other hand, Microsoft was founded in the year 1975. The alphabet was founded in California, in the United States while Microsoft was founded in New Mexico, U.S.
The creation of Alphabet had originated when Google was undergoing restructuring. The company also rose to the position of being the parent company of Google.
The other subsidiaries of Google were also acquired by the company. The company is among the top three technology companies in the world. While Microsoft is a company renowned for its software products.
Apart from the software, Microsoft also provides services and products in industries like cloud computing, computer hardware, the Internet, social networking services, and even consumer electronics.
The brands like Xbox, Skype, Windows, Surface, Office, Visual Studios come under the label of Microsoft.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of comparison | Alphabet | Microsoft |
|---|---|---|
| Traded as | It is traded as NASDAQ: GOOG and NASDAQ: GOOGL | It is traded as NASDAQ: MSFT |
| Founder | Sergey Brin and Larry Page | Paul Allen and Bill Gates |
| CEO | Sundar Pichai | Satya Nadella |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California | Redmond, Washington, U.S. |
| Subsidiaries | Google, Firebase, Waymo, Wing, X Development, Verily, Calico and DeepMind | Nuance communication, GitHub, Yammer, LinkedIn Corporation, Flipgrid, Skype, ZeniMax Media, Xbox Game studios, and others |
What is Alphabet?
Alphabet is a multinational company that is American based and has a conglomerate industry type. The creation of the company was through the restructuration of Google on 2nd October 2015.
The headquarters of the company is in Mountain View, California. The headquarters of Alphabet is named Googleplex. It also later became the parent company of Google and had various former Google subsidiaries.
Alphabet is considered the third-largest technology company in the world in terms of value and revenue. It comes under the list of five big American IT companies are Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Apple.
The founders of the Alphabet are Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Brin is also currently the controlling shareholder. The revenue of the company is around 257.637 billion dollars at the end of December 2021.
The chairman of the company is John L. Hennessy. The name Alphabet was incorporated as it meant a collection of letters and constitute a language, which forms the basis of innovation in humanity.
Alphabet provides various products like artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, automation tools, cloud computing, corporate venture capital, healthcare, software, robotics, the Internet, Fiber to the X, and various others.
The aim of establishing Alphabet was to make the business of core Google more accountable and cleaner and also allow greater autonomy to the group companies that operate in the businesses.
The subsidiaries of Alphabet are part of various distinct industries. The current CEO of Alphabet is Sundar Pichai. The designation of CFO is assigned to Ruth Porat.
The company claims that it values integrity, agility, performance, and customer orientation. The ISIN of Alphabet is US02079K3059 and US02079K1079. The company serves its products and services worldwide.
What is Microsoft?
Microsoft is a multinational technology corporation and is American-based. The launch of the company was around 1975.
The corporation is known mainly for its Microsoft windows software products. It also has products like consumer electronics, computer software personal computers, and other related services.
The flagship hardware products of Microsoft corporation are the gaming consoles which are available through Xbox videos and the surface of Microsoft which is available in the screen-touch mode of personal computers.
The ranking of company in the list of top 500 US Corporation in the year 2020 by Fortune was of rank number 21. The list was based on total revenue of the corporations.
The company had even reached the trillion-dollar market cap in 2019. The derivation of the name Microsoft was from the phrase “microcomputer software”.
Microsoft Corporation was also regarded as the largest software maker in the world based on revenue in 2016. The trading of the public company is as NASDAQ: MSFT.
The ISIN number assigned to the company is US5949181045. Microsoft Corporation is considered the predecessor of Traf-O-Data.
The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on 4th April, i975. The initial plan of the founders was to develop BASIC Interpreters for Altair 800.
The company was founded in New Mexico, U.S. The headquarters of Microsoft is in Redmond, Washington, U.S. The company provides services across the globe.
The envision of devices and services was brought about by Steve Ballmer. The acquisition in the mobile industry was through Nokia’s devices.
The total estimated revenue of the company is around 161 billion dollars as of 2021. Microsoft has various subsidiaries like Nuance communication, GitHub, Yammer, LinkedIn Corporation, and others.
Main Differences Between Alphabet and Microsoft
- The business of Alphabet is comparatively less diversified while Microsoft is more diversified than Alphabet.
- The regulatory headwinds faced by Alphabet are more while the regulatory headwinds faced by Microsoft are comparatively less.
- The Alphabet was founded on 2nd October 2015 while Microsoft was founded on 4th April 1975.
- The estimated revenue of Alphabet is around 25763 crores USD as of 2021 while the estimated revenue of Microsoft is around 16800 crores USD.
- The ISIN number of Alphabet is US02079K1079 while the ISIN number of Microsoft is US5949181045.
- https://comum.rcaap.pt/bitstream/10400.26/38384/1/Apple%2C_Aphabet_or_Microsoft_which_is_the_most_efficient_share.pdf
- https://www.cv-foundation.org/openaccess/content_cvpr_workshops_2015/W15/html/Dong_American_Sign_Language_2015_CVPR_paper.html
Last Updated : 15 July, 2023
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
