Does Europe stack up in tech?

Europe is a rich and technologically advanced society, but when it comes to information technology it has long played second fiddle to the US, and is in danger of being outpaced by China. Jason Walsh asks why

European tech firms do not seem to have anything like the impact on our culture that the US and Asian giants do. Picture: Getty

Think of a technology company and you are likely to imagine an American outfit: Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon or Netflix. In the specific area of hardware, possibly Dell, HP or IBM come to mind. Or perhaps, if you work in IT, Cisco or NetApp.

The cliché that today ‘every business is a tech business’ has some validity, but it is the hardware, software and internet giants that we all think about when we think about ...