AI Sector Overviews Articles and Reports

Netflix launched in 1997 as a mail-based DVD rental business. Alongside the growing US DVD market in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Netflix’s business grew and the company went public in 2002. Netflix posted its first profit a year later. By 2007, Netflix introduced its streaming service, and by 2013, the company began producing original content.

Founded in 1984 by two computer scientists from Stanford University, Cisco Systems developed the local area network (LAN) concept and achieved a market capitalization of $224 million by the time of its IPO in 1990. Today, Cisco manufactures and markets telecommunications technology as well as other high-technology products and services.

Toyota came to the United States in the late 1950s, setting up its US headquarters in California. A decade later, the Japanese automaker became the third-largest import brand in the United States. In 1968, Toyota introduced the Corolla, now the world’s best-selling passenger car. Today, Toyota is rebranding itself as a mobility company. 

American Express began as a freight forwarding company in the mid-19th century. Expanding over time to include financial products and travel services, American Express today reports some 114 million cards in force and $1.2 trillion in billed business worldwide. 

The Walt Disney Company began in 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. By 1940, Walt Disney Productions issued its first stock. Today, the multinational family entertainment and media conglomerate is one of the Big 6 media companies. 

Nike was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 and originally operated as a distributor for athletic shoes made by a Japanese firm. By 1971, Nike sold its own line of shoes and began using the company’s iconic Swoosh design. By the time Nike went public in 1980, the company had achieved a 50% market share in its domestic athletic shoe market.   

AT&T traces its history to 1875 when Bell Telephone was founded soon after Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone. Today, AT&T is the world’s largest telecom and the largest mobile telephone service provider in the US. 

Founded in 1977 by a team of engineers led by Larry Ellison, Oracle became the world's largest database management company by 1987. Today, Oracle claims a long list of innovations including: