Big tech organizations have been competing with each other for a long time. Especially, if they produce and market the same kind of products, then the rivalries in the tech world become acute and inevitable in some cases.
To stay strong in the competitive market, tech giants manufacture quality products and provide top-notch services and excellent user experience.
Hence, businesses have to be on high alert condition all the time, encourage innovation prepare excellent marketing strategies, and upgrade their products on a regular basis to stay ahead of their rivals.
So, rivalries in the tech world are an inevitable matter which you can’t ignore.
The Tech world has seen some toughest and most popularly known rivalries globally. Some of these rivalries come and go, however, some of them have left permanent markers in the industry and the world as a whole.
The upcoming leaders and strategy makers can have great insight along with important lessons from these rivalries in the tech world. Let’s have a look at the top 10 most epic business rivalries in the tech world.
1. Apple vs. Microsoft
The rivalry between Apple and Microsoft is one of the epic and most intense rivalries in the tech world has ever seen. Hence, it can be listed at the top easily.
Their rivalry or competition, whatever we call it, started in the 1970s when Apple in the hands of Steve Jobs, and Microsoft in the hands of Bill Gates introduced their business.
These two companies are, in fact, big-time pioneers in the tech industry. Their initial and most known popular area of work was personal computers.
It may songs interesting to many people that once in past, both companies collaborated, in terms of exchanging insight and engineering talents. But, both companies compete with each other to mimic the early-stage graphical interface of Xerox.
After the departure of Steve Jobs from Apple in 1985, Microsoft began to lead the PC market. However, after his comeback, Apple had to reach out to Microsoft in order to gain the competitive advantage they once lost in the Personal Computer (Pc) market.
In an attempt to lead the industry, from 2000 to 2010, their feud gradually returned with both companies diving into new market categories.
This is the brief history of intense rivalry between these two tech giants in the world, and the battle is going on even after the unfortunate, untimely death of Steve Jobs in 2011.
2. Ford vs. Chevrolet
There have been a good number of the good rivalry story in the automotive industry and one of the hottest competitions lies between Ford and Chevrolet. Ford developed the Model T, the first mass-produced automobile widely available for sale at an affordable price.
On the other hand, Chevrolet decided to merge with General Motors in order to compete with Ford. They were successful in manufacturing a car known as 490 with advanced instruments and better technology than that of Ford.
Then, the rivalry between these two motor giants started that’s even going on today. At present, they’re competing in manufacturing trucks and various sizes of pickups.
3. IBM vs. HP
This is one of the most intense and oldest rivalries in the tech world, i.e., the personal computer market. However, even after their epic rivalry, both companies took opposite directions in the last few years due to massive changes in the tech industry.
Today, IBM is a global tech and innovation business entity with over 400,000 employees working in various fields including technology, consulting services, software development, top-class supercomputers, and the task of predictive analysis.
On the other side, HP (Hewlett Packard) is heavily focused on developing and manufacturing outstanding personal computers. In addition, they offer various services including IT management, application testing, information management, big data analytics, etc.
4. Ferrari vs. Lamborghini
The decade of 1950 saw some noteworthy rivalries in the automotive industry. The battle between these two motor giants started when Ferruccio Lamborghini, the tractor manufacturer and later the chief of Lamborghini motors, had shown his concern over the clutch and engine clumsiness of his newly-bought Ferrari.
As Ferruccio was an automotive manufacturer himself, he believed he could provide true insights and recommendations to upgrade the Ferrari vehicle. This approach hasn’t been received well by Enzo Ferrari, the Ferrari chief and he told Ferrucio to stick to tractors.
However, Ferruccio was then motivated to start his own motor car factory and manufacture the Lamborghini sports car in the early 1960s. This competitive attitude still exists between the two motor giants.
5. PlayStation vs. Xbox
Competitions to have more market share and introduce new equipment are also worthy to be noted. From Coleco to Atari and Mattel, there were some true rivalry stories in the past.
In modern times, the biggest rivalry in this sector is visible in the competition of PlayStation only and Xbox of Microsoft, However, right at this moment, Sony is ahead thanks to their recent exciting development.
PlayStation 4 Pro is now the most popular console and after PS 2, it’s the second best-selling gaming console.
But, upon noticing this, Xbox, is actively working on new advancements with a view to overtake PlayStation., which shows that their competition is still alive and will be continued for some time in the recent future.
Surely, this is one of the greatest rivalries in the tech world.
6. Facebook vs. Snapchat
According to the estimation of Facebook, they have over two billion regular users. This astounding amount of users has made it one of the strongest and most successful companies in the world.
As Facebook faced fierce competition from other niche social media sites like WhatsApp and Instagram, they decided to take over these two companies to overtake the competition.
They did it successfully, however, their most difficult rival to overcome was Snapchat. This popular chatting and sharing app has been a rising and well-used platform.
Hence, Forbes marked it as the greatest threat to facebook’s overwhelming worldwide popularity. Nonetheless, Facebook has failed to acquire the company and now is in intense competition with Snapchat.
7. Intel vs. AMD
The competition between Intel and AMD is one of the oldest and greatest rivalries in the tech world. Both companies are manufacturers of processors for various tasks like video editing, gaming, and transcoding.
Intel is more popularly known and regarded as a better quality processor maker, while the latest development of AMD, the Ryzen 9 5900X can beat any processor of Intel.
However, Intel also has excellent chips that overtake its i9-1090K and has the plan to launch far better chips in near future. This is a sign of their fierce competition and a great rivalry.
8. Airbus vs. Boeing
In the air transport industry, the rivalry between Airbus and Boeing is highly notable which started in the 1980s. Then, Airbus, the European manufacturer, began to expand its market in the USA and take part in the market share of Boeing.
After that, both companies placed a series of sanctions and lobbies on the World Trade Organization. This activity created a long and expensive dispute between the two companies.
However, recently Boeing faced problems for two of its airplane got crushed within a span of five months. As a result, a good number of customers shift their air travel choice to their rival Airbus.
9. Energizer vs. Duracell
Energizer is a world-class battery manufacturer with experience of more than a century. However, it got recognition in the 2000s.
On the other hand, Duracell started manufacturing batteries in the mid-1900s and became a great competitor of Energizer.
For their high quality and powerful batteries, both companies are known as the world leaders in battery manufacturing. Both companies try to go ahead by calculating the steps of the other.
10. Nintendo vs. Sega
Video games-lovers who were born in the 1980s and 1990s have been known to two brands– Nintendo and Sega– and their corporate rivalry. They are the top two console makers of third generations.
Both companies didn’t get overnight popularity but gradually got recognition from the customers. This getting competitive position in the market led to a heated rivalry to become the market leader, which was known as ‘The bit war’ later on.
To compete with Nintendo’s Super Mario, Sega came up with some innovations which include the creation of their new, own flagship character ‘Soni the Headhog.’
However, the rise of modern gaming technology like PlayStation or Xbox affected the growth of both Nintendo and Sega and they slowly faded away in the gaming industry.
