BYD Tops Bloomberg Businessweek's 12th Annual Tech 100 List

For the first time, BYD, the Chinese maker of cars, batteries, electronics, and solar power equipment, earns the No. 1 spot on Bloomberg Businessweek's annual Tech 100 ranking of tech's top performing companies. BYD (which stands for Build Your Dreams) has more than flourished: It even outperformed perhaps the hottest tech outfit around, No. 2 Apple. Apple and Tencent Holdings (No. 3) round out the top three. Last year's reigning champion, Amazon.com, dropped three places to No. 4 and Tata Consultancy jumped from No. 30 last year to land the No. 5 spot.

Scan Bloomberg Businessweek's Tech 100 list, and you'll find names familiar and new. From global powerhouses Tata Consultancy (No. 5) and Google (No. 22) to lesser-known players such as Taiwanese chipmaker Phison Electronics (No. 65) and Brazilian e-tailer B2W (No. 96), these companies have managed to thrive during a bruising global recession.

Sure, U.S. companies still dominate any ranking of the world's best performing tech companies. But China and India are emerging powerhouses, with the number of companies on the Tech 100 right up there with traditionally strong tech countries Japan and Taiwan. Count all the Asian companies and North America doesn't loom large. Research In Motion (No. 21) is the only Canadian company to make the ranking.

To compile the Tech 100, Bloomberg Businessweek started with 6,500 tech companies. Requirements were set: a minimum market cap of $1 billion, revenues of at least $500 million, and no more than a 5 percent decline in revenues (in local currency) from 2008 to 2009. Revenues and operating income were then normalized to compare the remaining 210 companies, and they were ranked based on these metrics as well as shareholder return and employee growth, with 1 being the top ranking. Adding them all up, the companies with the lowest-weighted rankings made the list.

The 12th annual Tech100 appears in Bloomberg Businessweek's May 24, 2010--May 30, 2010 issue, on newsstands Friday, May 21st and on Businessweek.com at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/special_reports/20100520tech_100.htm.