The changing face of IT

The U.S. has powerful information technology companies--Apple, Google, Microsoft and IBM, to name a few. But globalization and new competition are having an impact on the American industry, with U.S. dominance on the decline.

That's the picture provided by Business Week's latest rankings of the top 100 IT companies in the world, which shows U.S. firms losing clout as others innovate, take advantage of cheaper operating costs and gain market share.

It's an unsettling development, and one that needs to be turned around given the importance of technology to the growth of the U.S. economy. When Business Week began its rankings in 1998, 75 of the top companies were from the U.S. Today, the number is down to 33, with the list now including 37 from Asia. - Judi