The ‘big five’ could destroy the tech ecosystem: opinion

This photograph taken on September 28, 2017, shows a smartphone being operated in front of GAFA logos (acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon web giants) as background in Hédé-Bazouges, western France. / AFP PHOTO / Damien MEYER

How big can the largest tech companies get? How completely can they come to dominate the US economy? The “big five” – Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon – now have a combined valuation of over US$3.3tril (RM13.77tril), and make up more than 40% of the value of the Nasdaq 100 index. 

As the digital economy continues to grow faster than the old economy, it's hard to see what can stop these juggernauts. Unless reality intrudes.