Introduction
The digital technology era has resulted in tech businesses having the highest market capitalization. Alphabet and Microsoft are the world's two most well-known tech behemoths. Both firms are headquartered in the United States of America. However, both organizations provide significant advantages to their customers.
Microsoft and Alphabet are always competing to provide the most innovative technology to consumers and companies. Both organizations have an innovative culture, and both have been responsible for creating disruptive products and services that have disrupted the logistics of communications, cooperation, data management, analysis, and more. Of course, big tech isn't perfect. All of this innovation is costly, and it’s never certain which innovations will make it into the mainstream. That means investors must tread a tight line between early support for the next breakthrough and reducing the risk that a costly project may never yield a return.
Alphabet vs. Microsoft
The primary distinction between Alphabet & Microsoft is that Alphabet was created in 2015. Microsoft, on the other side, was created in 1975. The alphabet was created in California, USA, but Microsoft was created in New Mexico, USA. The Alphabet was conceived during a period of upheaval at Google. In addition, the corporation rose to become Google's parent company. Google's other companies were also purchased by the firm. The corporation is ranked among the top three technological firms in the world. While Microsoft is well-known for its software, aside from software, Microsoft offers services and products in areas such as cloud computing, computer hardware, the Internet, social networking services, and even consumer electronics. Microsoft's brands include Xbox, Skype, Windows, Surface, Office, and Visual Studios.
Difference Between Alphabet and Microsoft in Tabular Form
| Parameters Of Comparision | Alphabet | Microsoft | |
| Definition |
Alphabet Inc. is a global technology business with headquarters in Mountain View, California. Alphabet was formed as a result of reorganization of Google on October 2, 2015. It then, became the parent company of Google and numerous previous Google subsidiaries. In terms of revenue, Alphabet is the third-largest technology company in the world and one of the most valuable companies. It is one of the Big Five American information technology companies, along with Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Meta. The creation of Alphabet Inc. was motivated by a goal to make the main Google operation "cleaner and more responsible," while also enabling group firms that operate in industries other than Internet services greater autonomy. In December 2019, company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stated their plans to step down from their leadership roles. Sundar Pichai is presently the CEO of Google. Page and Brin continue to be employees, board members, and majority shareholders of Alphabet Inc. |
Microsoft Company is a multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington, that produces personal computers, consumer electronics, computer software, and related services. Among its most well-known software offerings are the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Office productivity suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. The Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface family of touchscreen personal PCs are its major hardware offerings.
Microsoft was rated No. 21 in the 2020 Fortune 500 rankings of the top US firms by total revenue; as of 2016, it was the world's largest software manufacturer by revenue. It is one of the Big Five American information technology companies, along with Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta. Microsoft, a portmanteau of "microcomputer software," was founded on April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen with the goal of developing and selling BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. Microsoft Windows was the industry leader in personal computer operating systems after MS-DOS in the middle of the 1980s. Following the company's initial public offering (IPO) in 1986 and subsequent rise in share price, three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires were formed among Microsoft workers. Since the 1990s, it has gradually diversified beyond the operating system industry and has undertaken a series of corporate acquisitions, the most recent of which being the $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in December 2016, followed by the $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype Technologies in May 2011. | |
| Traded as |
Nasdaq: GOOGL (Class A)
Nasdaq: GOOG (Class C) Nasdaq-100 components (A & C) S&P 100 components (A & C) S&P 500 components (A & C) |
Nasdaq: MSFT
Nasdaq-100 component DJIA component S&P 100 component S&P 500 component | |
| Founded on | October 2, 2015; 6 years ago | April 4, 1975; 47 years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. | |
| Founders | Larry Page and Sergey Brin | Bill Gates and Paul Allen | |
| Products |
Products/Brands/services:
Artificial intelligence Automation Autonomous cars Biotechnology Cloud computing Computer hardware Corporate venture capital Fiber to the x Health care Internet Robotics Software |
Brands Windows Office Servers Skype Visual Studio Dynamics Xbox Surface Mobile Services Azure Bing Yammer MSDN Microsoft 365 OneDrive Outlook.com GitHub TechNet Pay Microsoft Store Windows Update Xbox Game Pass Xbox network |
What Is Alphabet?
Alphabet is an American multinational corporation with a conglomerate industry type. On October 2, 2015, the firm was formed as a result of a Google restructuring. The company's headquarters are in Mountain View, California. Alphabet's headquarters are known as the Googleplex. It eventually became Google's parent corporation and has several former Google subsidiaries. In terms of value and sales, Alphabet is regarded as the world's third-largest technological corporation. It is one of the five largest American IT businesses, along with Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Apple. The Alphabet was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Brin is also the majority shareholder at the moment. At the end of December 2021, the company's revenue is expected to reach about 257.637 billion USD. John L. Hennessy is the company's chairman. The term Alphabet was chosen because it indicated a collection of letters that make up a language, which is the foundation of human ingenuity. Alphabet's products include artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles, automation tools, cloud computing, corporate venture financing, healthcare, software, robotics, the Internet, Fiber to the X, and others. The goal of forming Alphabet was to make the core Google company more responsible and cleaner, as well as to provide the group firms that operate in the businesses more autonomy.
Corporate Branding
Page stated how the company's name came to be "We chose the name Alphabet because it refers to a collection of letters that symbolize language, which is one of humanity's most fundamental innovations and the foundation of how we index with Google search! We also appreciate that it indicates alphabet (investment return above benchmark), which is something we aim towards!" Schmidt said in a 2018 lecture that the concept for the name originated from the street address of the then-Google Hamburg office: ABC-Straße.
Alphabet has picked the top-level domain (TLD) abc.xyz, which was launched in 2014. It does not own the domain alphabet.com, which belongs to BMW's fleet management business. Following the release, BMW stated that it would be "essential to investigate the legal trademark ramifications" of the ideas. It also does not control the domain abc.com, which belongs to the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company. In the part where Larry Page says, there is an Easter egg "Sergey and I are serious about launching new projects. Alphabet will also include our X lab, which incubates new initiatives like Wing, our drone delivery initiative. As part of this new structure, we are also excited about expanding our investment arms, Ventures, and Capital." The time following "drone delivery attempt" is a link to "hooli. xyz," a reference to the TV show Silicon Valley.
Finances
Alphabet declared a net income of $76.033 billion for the fiscal (and calendar) year 2021. Annual sales were $257.6 billion, a 41 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. According to Alphabet's 2017 annual report, performance advertising (via user clicks on AdSense and Google Ads) and brand advertising accounted for 86% of the company's income. 53 percent of these come from foreign businesses. In 2017, this equated to total sales of US$110,855 million and a net income of US$12,662 million. Alphabet Inc. overtook Apple to become the world's most valuable publicly listed corporation on February 1, 2016, until Apple reclaimed the title on February 3, 2016. Experts attributed Apple's dismal performance to a lack of innovation as well as increased Chinese competition. As of 2019, Alphabet is rated No. 15 on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest firms in the United States by total revenue. Alphabet became the fourth US business to attain a $1 trillion market value on January 16, 2020, joining the trillion-dollar corporations club for the first time.
Controversies and Lawsuits
Alphabet Inc. sued Uber in 2017 for technology that was comparable to Alphabet's exclusive self-driving vehicle technology. Alphabet's Waymo subsidiary had been working on autonomous car technology for almost a decade (self-driving vehicle division). The unique technology is linked to 14,000 papers that were allegedly obtained and stolen by a former Waymo engineer who was later hired by Uber. The case was settled in February 2018, with Uber agreeing not to utilize the disputed self-driving technology and also agreeing to pay Waymo with a 0.34 percent ownership share, equivalent to about $245 million at the firm's early 2018 worth.
A class-action lawsuit was launched against Google and Alphabet in October 2018 as a consequence of "non-public" Google+ account data being disclosed as a result of a privacy issue that enabled app developers to access users' private information. The lawsuit was resolved in July 2020 for $7.5 million, with claimants receiving at least $5 and up to $12 apiece.
The US Department of Justice launched an antitrust case against Alphabet in October 2020, citing anti-competitive behavior.
On December 2, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint alleging that Alphabet Inc illegally monitored and questioned many Google employees. Employees were dismissed for attempting to form a union and opposing business rules. In addition, the board claims that Google illegally placed employees on administrative leave in retaliation. Alphabet Inc has denied any wrongdoing and stated that it behaved by the law.
Alphabet Inc., Google's parent firm, said on June 7, 2021, that it had settled an antitrust complaint with the French Autorité de la concurrence for $270 million. The payment was less than 0.7 percent of Alphabet Inc.'s annual earnings.
On June 12, 2021, Japan stated that it will initiate an antitrust investigation into Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. to explore if their relations with Japanese smartphone producers violate current antitrust laws or require new ones.
What Is Microsoft?
Microsoft is an American multinational technology firm. The company was founded around 1975. The company is well known for its Microsoft Windows software. It also sells consumer gadgets, computer software, personal computers, and other services.
Microsoft's major hardware devices include the game consoles available through Xbox videos and the Microsoft Surface, which is available in the screen-touch mode of personal computers. Fortune placed the firm at number 21 on its list of the top 500 US corporations in the year 2020. The corporations' total income was used to compile the list. In 2019, the company's market capitalization surpassed a trillion dollars.
The word Microsoft was derived from the phrase "microcomputer software." In 2016, Microsoft Corporation was also considered the world's top software manufacturer in terms of revenue. The public business is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol MSFT. US5949181045 is the ISIN number granted to the corporation. Microsoft Corporation is regarded as Traf-O-forefather. Data's On April 4, 1995, Bill Gates and Paul Allen established Microsoft. The creators' first objective was to provide BASIC interpreters for the Altair 800.
The corporation was created in New Mexico, United States. Microsoft's headquarters are in Redmond, Washington, United States. The organization delivers services all around the world. Steve Ballmer was responsible for the device and service vision. Nokia's devices were used in the acquisition of the mobile sector. As of 2021, the company's entire expected revenue is over 161 billion dollars. Microsoft has several subsidiaries, including Nuance Communication, GitHub, Yammer, and LinkedIn Corporation.
Company Culture
The Microsoft Developer Network provides technical references for developers as well as content for different Microsoft periodicals such as Microsoft Systems Journal (MSJ) (MSDN). MSDN also provides subscriptions for businesses and individuals, with the more costly subscriptions typically providing access to pre-release beta versions of Microsoft products. In April 2004, Microsoft introduced Channel 9, a community site for developers and consumers that includes a wiki and an Internet forum. On10.net, a community site that offers daily videocasts and other services, debuted on March 3, 2006. Free technical assistance has typically been given through online Usenet newsgroups and, in the past, CompuServe, which are maintained by Microsoft staff; a single product may have many newsgroups. Helpful people can be voted by their peers or Microsoft employees for the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) designation, which gives them a kind of unique social standing as well as the possibility of receiving prizes and other perks.
The idiom "eating your dog food" is used within Microsoft to describe the policy of utilizing pre-release and beta versions of products to evaluate them in "real-world" settings.
This is commonly abbreviated to "dog food" and is used as a noun, verb, and adjective. FYIFV or FYIV ("Fuck You, I'm [Fully] Vested") is another jargon phrase used by employees to denote that they are financially independent and may avoid work at any moment. Microsoft has been a vocal opponent of the H-1B visa quota, which allows corporations in the United States to hire certain foreign employees. Bill Gates says that the H1B visa restriction makes it harder to attract people to the firm, saying in 2005, "I'd surely do rid of the H1B cap." Critics of H1B visas believe that lowering the limitations will result in higher unemployment for US nationals as H1B immigrants labor for lower wages. The Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which assesses how progressive a company's policies regarding LGBT employees are, evaluated Microsoft as 87 percent from 2002 to 2004 and 100 percent from 2005 to 2010 once they permitted gender expression. In August 2018, Microsoft mandated that all firms who provide subcontractors provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave to each employee. This extends to the previous 2015 requirement of 15 days of paid vacation and sick leave each year. Microsoft implemented its parental leave policy in 2015, allowing 12 weeks off for parental leave and an extra 8 weeks for the parent who gave birth.
Environment
Greenpeace published a report in 2011 ranking the top 10 cloud computing companies based on the sources of power used in their data centers. Data centers utilized up to 2% of all worldwide power at the time, and this figure was expected to rise. Greenpeace's Phil Radford expressed worry that "this new increase in power demand may lock us into outmoded, polluting energy sources rather than the clean energy accessible now." and urged "Amazon, Microsoft, and other information-technology firms to adopt sustainable energy to power their cloud-based data centers." Microsoft agreed in 2013 to purchase wind energy generated by a Texas wind farm to power one of its data centers. Microsoft is placed 17th in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics (16th Edition), which assesses 18 electronics manufacturers based on their hazardous chemical, recycling, and climate change policies. Microsoft's deadline for eliminating brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and phthalates from all products is 2012, but the company's commitment to eliminating PVC is unclear. It has no items that are fully free of PVC and BFRs as of January 2011.
In 2008, Microsoft's main U.S. campus received a silver certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, and in April 2005, it installed over 2,000 solar panels on top of its buildings at its Silicon Valley campus, generating approximately 15% of the total energy needed by the facilities.
Microsoft uses alternate modes of transportation. To transport workers from outside the corporation, it established one of the world's largest private bus networks, the "Connector," and for on-campus mobility, it employs a vast fleet of hybrid automobiles to conserve fuel. As an additional incentive, the firm subsidizes area public transportation offered by Sound Transit and King County Metro. However, in February 2010, Microsoft took a stand against adding more public transportation and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on State Route 520 and its floating bridge connecting Redmond to Seattle; the business did not want to further delay construction. In 2011, the Great Place to Work Institute placed Microsoft first on its list of the World's Best Multinational Workplaces. In January 2020, the corporation vowed to remove all of the carbon dioxides it has released since its inception in 1975. Microsoft will fully enable remote work on October 9, 2020. In January 2021, the firm stated on Twitter that it will join the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in Europe by 2030 by bringing the cloud infrastructure and data center sectors together.
Headquarters
The Microsoft Redmond campus, sometimes known as the corporate headquarters, is located at One Microsoft Way in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft first moved onto the university grounds on February 26, 1986, only weeks before the business went public on March 13, 1986. Since its inception, the headquarters has undergone many additions. It is expected to have about 8 million square feet (750,000 square meters) of office space and 30,000–40,000 jobs. There are other offices in Bellevue and Issaquah, Washington (90,000 employees worldwide). The corporation intends to vastly improve its Mountain View, California, facility. This site has been home to the corporation since 1981. The corporation purchased the 32-acre (13-hectare) facility in 2016, with intentions to restore and expand it by 25%. Microsoft's East Coast headquarters are located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Flagship Establishments
The firm established its retail outlet on Fifth Avenue in New York City on October 26, 2015. The space is 22,270 square feet and has a five-story glass storefront. According to business leaders, Microsoft has been looking for a flagship site since 2009. The company's retail sites are part of a larger plan to engage with its customers. The store's debut coincided with the release of the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. Microsoft established a second flagship shop in Sydney's Pitt Street Mall on November 12, 2015.
Logo
In 1987, Microsoft adopted the so-called "Pac-Man Logo," created by Scott Baker. "The new design, in Helvetica italic typeface, features a slash between the o and the s to accentuate the "soft" aspect of the word and express motion and speed," Baker explained. Dave Norris launched an internal prank campaign to rescue the original logo, which was green, all uppercase, and included a fancy letter O called the blibbet, but it was scrapped. Microsoft's logo, which includes the statement "Your potential. Our passion." underneath the main corporate name, is based on a slogan used by the company in 2008. The corporation began utilizing the logo in the United States in 2002, and ultimately launched a television campaign with the phrase, which replaced the prior tagline of "Where do you want to go today?" Microsoft introduced its latest motto, "Be What's Next," during the exclusive MGX (Microsoft Global Exchange) conference in 2010. They also had a tagline that said, "Making it all make sense." On August 23, 2012, at the opening of its 23rd Microsoft store in Boston, Microsoft unveiled a new corporate logo, indicating the company's shift of focus from the classic style to the tile-centric modern interface, which it uses/will use on the Windows Phone platform, Xbox 360, Windows 8, and the upcoming Office Suites. The new design also has four squares in the colors of the previous Windows logo, which have been used to signify Microsoft's four core products: Windows (blue), Office (red), Xbox (green), and Bing (yellow). The logo also recalls the beginning of one of the Windows 95 advertisements.
Main Differences Between Alphabet and Microsoft in Points
- Alphabet's business is comparably less diverse, whereas Microsoft's business is more diverse.
- Alphabet is subjected to more regulatory challenges than Microsoft.
- Alphabet was created on October 2, 2015, while Microsoft was started on April 4, 1975.
- As of 2021, Alphabet's expected revenue is about 25763 crores USD, whereas Microsoft's estimated revenue is around 16800 crores USD.
- Alphabet's ISIN number is US02079K1079, whereas Microsoft's ISIN number is US5949181045.
Conclusion
The world's Big Tech corporations are the source for providing services and countless goods to millions of people. These firms may exert influence over user behavior and even control over data. Alphabet and Microsoft are the two largest technology corporations.
Both businesses are titans of the technological industry. Both firms offer services in many industries and niches. Before making a final selection regarding a product or service from the firm, customers should analyze all of the areas of differentiation supplied by competing companies.
References
- Alphabet Inc. - Wikipedia
- Microsoft - Wikipedia