Google leads new Omdia benchmark ranking consumer platform hyperscalers

LONDON, 4 October, 2021 – Google leads the pack ahead of Amazon and Apple in a new benchmark of consumer platform hyperscalers from research group Omdia. The benchmark finds that while Google scores highly across the board, others perform strongly in individual categories with Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent notably outperforming rivals in gaming.

Omdia’s 2021 Consumer Platforms Benchmark provides a detailed, balanced capability assessment of selected hyperscalers – those companies with global technology infrastructure and services that can scale effectively with demand. The benchmark covers the entire consumer services and own-brand device domain to determine which players are best situated to gain market share.  

Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Tencent and Alibaba are six of the world’s largest consumer platform companies. Their core product lines count users in the billions while their combined revenues exceeded $1 trillion in 2020, a 22.8% year-on-year rise. As efforts to shape the metaverse gains momentum, it will be platforms with operations across the spectrum of consumer services that will be best positioned to provide a compelling vision of that future.

“These consumer platform companies are driving innovation and disruption in consumer services, operating in an array of product sectors and leveraging advantage in one to benefit another.” said Seth Wallis-Jones, Omdia Senior Analyst, Consumer Platforms & AI. “Leading consumer platforms have access to advanced technology, have developed immense consumer reach, strong brand equity and an ocean of investment capital.” 

“Assessing the capabilities of consumer platforms and determining which players are best positioned is difficult precisely because they compete on so many fronts. said Eden Zoller, Omdia Chief Analyst, Consumer Platforms & AI. “Google may be the frontrunner in the benchmark, but Amazon and Apple are not far behind while certain hyperscalers have a clear lead in individual service or device categories. There is still a lot to play for and the rankings are by no means set in stone. The top-ranked players cannot afford to be complacent.” 

The Omdia Consumer Platforms Benchmark finds that Google and Amazon have pulled ahead of other players due to strong scoring across the board, though they are not without their weaknesses – even absences – in some categories. Alibaba is second only to Amazon in commerce but, like Tencent, is held back in the overall rankings by its domestic focus, although Tencent in particular has a growing global footprint. Apple’s strength in own-brand devices has delivered advantageous positioning in other sectors and helped it cement third place in the benchmark. Although Facebook’s success outside of its core remit is limited, it is leveraging its massive user base to improve its position in commerce, among other areas and is a leading player in the nascent virtual reality (VR) industry. 

The individual category scores reveal exactly where players are in a position of strength and where they are most vulnerable. For example, Tencent is the undisputed leader in the Games category, with massive reach aided by extensive acquisitions and global strategic partnerships. These have helped Tencent expand gaming beyond China to amass over 800m players globally. Amazon and Google score points via the former’s popular Twitch live-streaming platform and the latter’s YouTube Games. Although both these players have cloud gaming services (Amazon Luna and Google Stadia), the former is yet to launch publicly, and the latter has had a difficult start.

The Omdia Consumer Platforms Benchmark 2021 is a dynamic capability assessment of leading consumer platforms Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook, Tencent and Alibaba. The benchmark rates their performance and capabilities across twelve core categories: TV and video, games, music and audio, productivity and information services, communications and social, smart home services and devices, AI assistants, commerce, financial services, and a consumer platform’s own-brand devices.