These charts show where the incredible earnings figures of Amazon, Google, Facebook and other companies come from.

Mario Seijas

Many large companies recently released their first quarter financial results, and many of us continue to be surprised to see so many zeros in a row. Titans like Google, Facebook or Amazon continue to bring in trillions of dollars in profits, and these numbers are growing every year. But… Where does this money come from?. This is the question that the colleagues at VisualCapitalist wanted to answer with their new detailed graphics.

In a very visual breakdown, the minfographs show the origin of the bulk of the profits of the great tech titans in 2021. The trend in all of them is the same: either they sell us a product or service, or they sell us to users as a product to advertising companies. The strategy varies depending on the company, but including revenue from Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple, the amount is $1.4 trillion.This figure exceeds the GDP of all of Spain.so you can get an idea of ​​the numbers they are dealing with.

Legacy of Amazon, titan and e-commerce leader

The origin of the Amazon heritage is the least surprising. About 50% of the bulk of the profit comes from commissions and sales on Amazon. in different country offices. Another major source of income is also related to sales, but corresponds to sales and transportation contracts with third parties. The money that comes from signing up for Prime and the ads he places online is just over 10% of his income.

• Amazon’s total revenue in 2021 is over $469,000 million.

iPhone remains the gem of Apple

Things get a little more interesting in Apple graphics. In this case, we are dealing with a company that produces appliances and devices, but despite the offer, there is still a product that clearly wins. iPhone sales bring more than 50% of the company’s profitwhile other products such as iPads, Macs or wearables (Apple Watch, Airtag, Airpods…) barely reach 10% each.

Curiously, Apple’s streaming services accounted for almost 20% of its profits in 2021. Platforms like Apple Pay, Apple Music or Apple TV continue to grow and the trend seems to be getting stronger year on year.

• Apple’s total revenue in 2021 will be over $365,000 million.

Alphabet and Google: advertising as the main axis

Here we have the first example where the bulk of the profit comes from advertising. In the case of Google, nearly 70% of their revenue comes from search ads, Youtube and tools like Maps or Gmail. On the other hand, Google has an SEM system so companies can pay to position themselves on Google through Google Ads. It is this tool that takes them away from total dependence on advertising and makes up 12% of their total income.

• Aphabet’s total revenue in 2021 is over $257,000 million.

Microsoft Success: Product and Service Versatility

Microsoft’s business is the richest and most diverse. While other companies depend on a product or service, Microsoft’s fortune is divided on multiple fronts. The primary source of cash flow comes from Windows subscriptions, Azure services and servers, and all Office suite products.

Microsoft is the only company on this list that has a dedicated video game division. Although it is one of the most influential gaming companies in the world, Xbox revenue barely symbolizes 10% huge amount that Microsoft is able to generate every year. On the other hand, ad revenue or platforms like Linkedin.

• Microsoft’s total revenue in 2021 is over $168,000 million.

Meta strategy: you are the product

Meta is a prime example of how users are, in fact, its biggest source of income. Zuckerberg’s company makes 97% of its capital from Facebook ads. and Instagram. With hundreds of millions of users accessing their social media, thousands of companies advertise their products daily to drive sales. In this way, Facebook works as an advertising storefront, where it uses your data to attract advertising companies.

• Meta’s total revenue in 2021 is over $117,000 million.