50 Smartest Companies 2013
- 8 years4
Why
Cranking up the appeal of purchasing goods online by offering same-day delivery in some places.Company Details - 8 years22
Why
Pushing the physical boundaries of computing with technologies inclusing circuits that transmit data with light.Company Details - 7 years43
Why
Launching the private space-flight business. Its rockets are making new space-based businesses possible.Company Details - 6 years6
Why
Improving displays by extending its Retina technology from small screens to MacBooks and iPads.Company Details - 6 years17
Why
Figuring out how to correlate online and offline activity, which should lead to novel advertising methods.Company Details - 6 years21
Why
Running the most widely used smartphone software, which has greatly expanded the competition for devices.Company Details - 6 years23
Why
Driving down the cost of DNA sequencing and creating new diagnostics markets for genomics.Company Details - 5 years25
Why
Surpassing rivals in the performance of mobile processors, even though it still trails badly in market share.Company Details - 5 years45
Why
Dominating Chinese social media. The company's version of Twitter is hugely influential in political affairs.Company Details - 4 years7
Why
Beginning to sell a novel kind of battery that it can manufacture cheaply; utilities could use it for grid storage.Company Details - 4 years20
Why
Helping utilities make use of wind and solar. A new GE gas turbine ramps up quickly when greener power isn't available.Company Details - 4 years29
Why
Combining traditional computing with touch technology. Windows 8 could influence the PC and mobile markets.Company Details$15 billion:
projected annual revenue for its commercial cloud business - 4 years42
Why
Developing batteries and wind technologies that will be crucial in Germany's plan to rely more heavily on renewable power.Company Details - 4 years44
Why
Streamlining transactions. A Square mobile app lets you pay for things just by speaking your anme to a store clerk.Company Details - 3 years8
Why
Becoming a bigger factor in computing as it expands from mobile chip designs into tablet, PC, and server processors.Company Details - 3 years11
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Opening the biggest solar plant where mirrors reflect light onto a tower to generate steam.Company Details - 3 years40
Why
Leading the market for smartphones and making a tablet that is one of the few credible challengers to the iPad.Company Details - 3 years46
Why
Expanding its dominance of the hybrid-car market with its new plug-in version of the Prius.Company Details - 2 years3
Why
Advancing ultra-efficient solar. The military will use Alta's flexible sheets to provide portable power to drones and soldiers.Company Details - 2 years19
Why
Offering a genetic test that helps doctors select the right drugs for cancer patients.Company Details - 2 years33
Why
Developing a continuous drug-manufacturing process that could combine compounds quickly and in novel ways.Company Details - 2 years36
Why
Making efficient LED light bulbs affordable and more useful. One new bulb can be controlled by phones and tablets.Company Details - 2 years38
Why
Broadening the use of robotics in manufacturing. Its robots are easily taught and can work safely alongside humans.Company Details - 2 years39
Why
Extending the use of the mobile currency M-Pesa in Kenya. Its new mobile lending service challenges banks.Company Details - 1 years1
Why
Perfecting a circuit breaker for high-voltage DC lines—a crucial step for widespread use of renewable energy.Company Details - 1 years2
Why
Streaming local TV programs to mobile devices, filling a void left by broadcasters who have essentially ignored the Internet.Company Details - 1 years5
Why
Making a battery for storing energy on power grids. Its molten electrodes quickly absorb large amounts of electricity.Company Details - 1 years9
Why
Pushing autonomous cars closer to fruition with a laser-scanning road detector that fits in a vehicle's front grille.Company Details - 1 years10
Why
Sequencing more genomes than anyone else and becoming a worldwide provider of genome services.Company Details - 1 years12
Why
Producing a new kind of glass that is thin and flexible yet strong enough to be used in touch-screen devices.Company Details - 1 years13
Why
Making college courses available free online and developing ways to adjust them to students' individual needs.Company Details - 1 years14
Why
Introducing a new kind of antivirus software that's better at detecting attacks and identifying their sources.Company Details - 1 years15
Why
Making inexpensive diagnostic tests on paper, which could greatly benefit poor countries.Company Details - 1 years16
Why
Commercializing roof shingles that incorporate photovoltaic materials and thus double as cheaply installed solar panels.Company Details - 1 years18
Why
Collecting and analyzing big data sets to create stores of knowledge that can inform many kinds of software.Company Details - 1 years24
Why
Challenging Google and Apple in the market for mobile ads. InMobi sells, distributes, and helps make the ads.Company Details - 1 years26
Why
Developing relatively small antennas that replace satellite dishes so planes and trains can get better broadband service.Company Details - 1 years27
Why
Bringing gesture control to any computer. Leap's $70 controller responds to pinches, grabs, and swipes in the air.Company Details - 1 years28
Why
Pioneering stretchable electronics with applications in sports and medicine, like an impact-sensing skullcap.Company Details - 1 years30
- 1 years31
Why
Bringing the smartphone revolution to more poor countries with Firefox OS, which is based on Web technology.Company Details - 1 years32
Why
Marketing a thermostat that learns users' temperature preferences and maximizes efficiency as it implements them.Company Details - 1 years34
Why
Creating new applications for speech recognition technology, from cars to video games.Company Details - 1 years35
Why
Demonstrating an alternative business model for social networking: selling users extra services.Company Details - 1 years37
Why
Creating a social network centered on collecting and finding images of desired products and experiences.Company Details - 1 years41
Why
Using a novel method of concentrating sunlight through tiny lenses to boost the efficiency of solar power.Company Details - 1 years47
Why
Restoring the promise of gene therapy. The Dutch company has approval to treat a rare metabolic disorder.Company Details - 1 years48
Why
Threatening the likes of Cisco by using a compression technology to enable high-def video conferencing on smartphones.Company Details - 1 years49
Why
Making cloud services more powerful with software-defined networking, a technology it gained by buying startup Nicira.Company Details - 1 years50
Why
Automating urban services. A Xerox system in Los Angeles changes the price of parking spots as demand fluctuates.Company Details