Deep Intelligence Across Industries

Company Headquarters: US Founded: 1888 Workforce: ~35,400 Company Working: McGraw-Hill Education Inc. is one of the leading providers of outcome-focused learning solutions that deliver both curated content and digital learning tools and platforms to the students. The company provides customized educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. It currently has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East, and South America, and the solutions provided by them are available in nearly 60 languages. The company specializes in adaptive learning, data and analytics, K-12 assessment, higher education, educational technology, professional learning, learning science, career readiness, software, professional development, teaching materials, instructional design, college, elementary, and education technology or EdTech. The company aims at accelerating the learning process through intuitive, engaging, efficient and effective experiences to the users. It offers various digital platforms such as Access Medicine, Access Engineering, Access Science, ALEKS, Connect, Connect2, Create, LearnSmart, SmartBook, and Elevate English. The company also offers various services such as professional development, custom solutions, McGraw Hill Campus, and the Connect Community. The company has evolved itself from a print-centric producer of textbooks and instructional materials to a leader in the development of digital content and technology-driven adaptive learning solutions that are delivered anytime, anywhere. The company operates in four segments namely, higher education, K-12, international, and professional.

Company Headquarters: London Founded: 1844 Workforce: ~24,322 Company Working: Pearson plc is an international education company having its major operations in education and consumer publishing markets. It delivers its content, in a variety of forms through a number of channels including books and online services. The company provides educational material and learning technologies for teachers and students worldwide. The company offers courseware services, including curriculum materials provided in book form and/or via access to digital content; and assessments, such as test development, processing, and scoring services. They offer various products and services for teaching, institutions, assessments, and qualifications. The company offers personalized course content, digital resources, apps, and textbooks in order to help educators build knowledge and unlock the learners’ potential. For teaching, the company offers Revel, MyLab and Mastering, ELT Courseware, and Bug Club. For institutions, they offer online program management and connections education. Whereas, for assessments and qualifications, the company offers administration of testing programs, educational assessments, and professional assessments. It also provides online learning services in partnership with universities and other academic institutions. The company operates through three segments namely North America, core, and growth segment. The North America segment business serves students and educators in the US and Canada and provides a wide range of products and services including curriculum textbooks, learning materials, and services including provision of online learning services.

Post-delisting, Zenitel's own communications indicate headcount rose from roughly 300 (2021 takeover-bid releases) to "over 400" and then "more than 450" (careers page, 2026), consistent with the 2021 ASL acquisition and organic sales-force build-out in the Americas and EMEA. Zenitel is a 125-year-old, Belgian-domiciled, Norway-operated specialist in critical audio communication — intercoms, public address and voice alarm (PA/VA and PA/GA), IP speakers, two-way radio integration and the software platforms that unify them. Its proposition is intelligibility and reliability in environments where failure endangers lives or assets: ships and offshore platforms, rail and metro networks, airports, tunnels, prisons, hospitals, campuses and industrial sites. It markets under the Zenitel brand, having folded its heritage brands Vingtor-Stentofon, Phontech and ASL into a single identity. The company sells primarily through system integrators, distributors and manufacturer representatives, and increasingly positions audio as the third pillar of physical security alongside video and access control, integrating with VMS, access control and PSIM platforms via open standards (SIP, ONVIF, REST, OPC UA). Since 2021 it has been privately owned by the Belgian family holding 3d investors, which explicitly framed the delisting as enabling a long-term growth strategy. --- ### What the company does Zenitel designs, develops, manufactures (directly and via contract partners) and sells critical communication equipment and software. Its core product families, as described in its own materials and Wikipedia's synthesis of them, are: **IP intercoms:** video intercoms, door-entry stations, operator telephones, vandal-resistant, explosion-proof (Ex), industrial and clean-room intercoms (the Turbine family is the flagship IP station line). **IP speakers:** indoor/outdoor horn, ceiling, cabinet and projector speakers, extended in 2025–2026 with a new range and OEM-style speaker kits. - **Public Address & Voice Alarm (PA/VA) and Public Address & General Alarm (PA/GA)** — audio routers, amplifiers, microphones and controllers, including EN 54-certified onshore voice alarm (from ASL heritage, now VAIA) and SOLAS/MED-approved maritime PA/GA (Exigo, SPA-V2). **Platforms:** Zenitel Connect Pro (unified critical communication platform), Zenitel Connect Essential, ICX-AlphaCom (integrated intercom/PA platform), IC-EDGE (serverless edge architecture), and the new Zenitel Cloud RMM (remote monitoring & management). **Radio:** two-way radio and integration into maritime/offshore systems (e.g., Motorola MOTOTRBO R7 radios supplied as part of DNV-approved AlphaCom systems, February 2026). **Engineering services:** system design, delivery, commissioning and maintenance, notably in the Transportation BU (e.g., third-line maintenance under the Irish Rail PA contract, January 2026). ### Company's own description In its last listed-era releases (FY2019 and FY2020 results), Zenitel described itself as sitting at the intersection of communication and safety/security, positioned as the preferred supplier where human lives or critical operations must be protected, focused on fully integrated systems combining intercom, public address and two-way radio, with key markets in building security, public safety, transportation, industry, energy and maritime. Its current corporate tagline is "Because Communication is Critical" (introduced late 2017), and its mission framing is enabling everyone to hear, be heard and be understood, every time and everywhere. Since 2024–2025 the company describes its category as "Unified Critical Communication". ### Business model and revenue model | Revenue stream | Description | Disclosure status | |---|---|---| | Hardware products | Intercom stations, speakers, amplifiers, PA/GA cabinets, servers (ICX-510) | Dominant share; exact mix not publicly disclosed | | Software licences | Zenitel Connect Pro device licences (e.g., ZCL-IC1), integration licences (ZCL-API, REST/PubSub), OPC UA module, trunk licences | Mix not disclosed | | Software maintenance subscriptions | Connect Pro software maintenance subscription per connected device (3-year term, ZCUL-IC) | Mix not disclosed | | Cloud services | Zenitel Cloud RMM — secure cloud device monitoring & management (launched 2026) | New; not disclosed | | Project systems & engineering | Turnkey offshore/maritime and transportation systems, design, commissioning | Not disclosed | | Service & maintenance | Aftermarket, retrofit, third-line maintenance contracts | Not disclosed | **Independent characterization.** Zenitel is a mid-cap-scale (c. Gross margins (revenue minus raw materials and consumables) were 54–57% in 2018–2020 at group level, and the Zenitel Norway AS standalone entity reported 56–58% in 2023–2024, consistent with differentiated, certification-protected products. The company is a "pick-and-shovel" supplier inside larger security, ship-building, offshore energy and rail projects: the end customer (shipyard, rail operator, campus) typically buys through an integrator or EPC contractor. The strategic shift since 2019 is from device sales toward platform-anchored ecosystems (Connect Pro, cloud RMM) that create licence and subscription annuities and raise switching costs. ### Value-chain position Zenitel sits upstream of system integrators and EPC contractors and downstream of electronic component, enclosure and contract-manufacturing suppliers. It owns the intellectual property (hardware design, DSP/audio algorithms, platform software) and certification portfolio (DNV, MED, EN 54, UL). In maritime and offshore, it often participates in newbuild specification at the shipyard stage and then captures a long retrofit/aftermarket tail; Zenitel-heritage systems are installed on more than 30,000 ships (Zenitel distributor TTT BV brand page). ### Customer types and end-markets | Business unit (current) | End-markets / verticals named by Zenitel | |---|---| | Safety & Security (Onshore), Oslo | Corporate and public buildings, education, smart city, prisons, retail, healthcare, industrial, data centers | | Maritime & Energy (Offshore), Horten | Offshore wind (incl. HVDC converter platforms), offshore oil & gas platforms, cruise, luxury vessels, ferries, aquaculture well-boats, fishing fleets | | Transportation Solutions, Lewes (UK) | Rail, metro, airports, tunnels; plus engineering services (design, delivery, maintenance) | Customer archetypes: security integrators, VMS/access-control ecosystem partners, shipyards and ship-owners, offshore operators and EPCs, rail operators (e.g., Irish Rail; Kolkata and Bangalore metro references in 2025 company news), airports (e.g., Rockhampton Airport, Australia), universities (e.g., Nottingham Trent University with Schréder).

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Company Headquarters: London, UK Founded: 2003 Workforce: ~1,825 Company Working: Inmarsat PLC is one of the leading providers of mobile satellite communications. The company’s global sales and marketing activities are operated through five business units, namely, Inmarsat Maritime, Inmarsat US Government, Inmarsat Global Government, Inmarsat Enterprise, and Inmarsat Aviation. Inmarsat Aviation division focuses on in-flight voice, data, safety services and cabin connectivity, for both business and commercial air transport. The company has its presence in more than 60 locations across every continent and provides services through a worldwide network of independent Distribution Partners (DPs) and Service Providers (SPs). Its customers include governments, airlines, the broadcast media, the oil and gas industry, mining, construction, and humanitarian aid agencies, among others. It owns and operates a total of 13 spacecraft flying in geostationary orbit.

Company Headquarters: Baar, Switzerland Founded: 1987 Workforce: ~1,345 Company Working: Ascom specializes in healthcare information and communications technology (ICT) and mobile workflow solutions. The company's three segments are healthcare, enterprise, and OEM. Most of its income comes from its healthcare division. It offers nurse call and monitoring systems, including teleCARE IP that provides wireless nurse call, alerts, messaging, monitoring, and wander management solutions; and Telligence, a patient response system. The company also provides Digistat, a suite of clinical workflow software; Unite software, a workflow orchestration platform that integrates data and events from source systems, as well as offers alerts, chats, and tasks to enable users on various endpoint platforms; and Ofelia for managing tasks and workflows. In addition, the company offers mobile devices, DECT and VoWiFi phones, and pagers solutions. The company has operations in 18 countries across the globe.

Company Headquarters: Shenzhen, China Founded: 1993 Workforce: ~50 Company Working: Hytera Communication Corp Ltd (Hytera) is one of the leading professional mobile radio communications solutions providers. The company engages in the development and production of walkie-talkie devices, radio communications equipment and accessories, explosion-proof communication products and accessories, and development and sale of video surveillance system technology and digital products. It offers end to end communication solutions for government, public security, utility, transportation, and business enterprises. The company serves hospitality, education, commercial, oil & gas, utilities, and transportation industries. Hytera specializes in TETRA, DMR, and PDT technologies. The company has its customer base in more than 80 countries across the globe. Hytera has established a global sales network with three subsidiaries in the US, the UK and Germany, more than 20 branches, and approximately 600 partners across the world.

Telstra is Australia's largest telecommunications and digital infrastructure company. Its mobile network covers about 900,000 square kilometres more of Australia than any rival network. It supports 26.0 million retail mobile services and 2.9 million wholesale mobile unique users, and generated A$23.4 billion of total income in FY26. The business is structurally anchored by mobile, which contributes 61% of underlying EBITDA (A$5.4 billion), and by a domestic infrastructure franchise. That franchise includes InfraCo Fixed (A$1.9 billion EBITDA, underpinned by CPI-indexed nbn receipts with about 21 years remaining) and Amplitel towers (6,196 towers), plus the new Aura intercity fibre network contracted to hyperscalers including Microsoft, Google and AWS. Under the Connected Future 30 (CF30) strategy launched in May 2025, Telstra is simplifying away from enterprise IT services and focusing on connectivity, network-as-a-product monetisation and AI-driven digital infrastructure demand. The July 2026 national outage, however, has made network resilience the defining reputational and regulatory issue for FY27. --- ### What the company does Telstra builds, owns and operates fixed, mobile, subsea and satellite-linked communications infrastructure. It sells connectivity and related services to consumers, small businesses, enterprises, governments, wholesale customers (including MVNOs) and international carriers and hyperscalers. Since the national broadband network (nbn) was rolled out under the 2011 definitive agreements, revised in 2014, Telstra has largely ceased to own the last-mile fixed access network in Australia. It now resells nbn wholesale services in fixed retail, while receiving long-term, CPI-indexed payments from nbn co for use of its pits, ducts, dark fibre and exchange infrastructure. ### Company's own description (FY26 Annual Report / results) Telstra describes its ambition as being "the number one choice for connectivity in Australia" (FY26 results deck, slide 5). It organises its strategy around three layers: **Customer Engagement:** leading in how it anticipates and delivers on customers' connectivity needs. **Network as a Product:** building and operating Australia's leading network and reinventing how it captures value from it. **Digital Infrastructure:** being Australia's leading digital infrastructure provider. Four enablers sit beneath these layers: technology leadership, people and culture, financial discipline, and sustainability. ### Business model and revenue model | Revenue model element | Description | Indicative FY26 scale | |---|---|---| | Subscription / recurring service | Postpaid and prepaid mobile plans, nbn and fixed wireless broadband, enterprise data and connectivity, managed services | Mobile services revenue A$8,919m; C&SB core connectivity A$3,641m; Enterprise DAC A$637m | | Product / hardware | Handsets, accessories, modems, enterprise equipment | Mobile hardware, interconnect and other A$2,449m; Enterprise equipment sales A$213m | | Infrastructure access / lease-like | nbn recurring receipts, dark fibre, duct access, tower tenancies, subsea and terrestrial capacity (IRUs and leases) | nbn recurring A$1,129m; Amplitel external A$101m | | Wholesale | MVNO and wholesale mobile, Active Wholesale fixed, international wholesale | Mobile wholesale A$619m; Fixed Active Wholesale A$329m | | Professional and cloud services | Telstra Purple (being shrunk), cloud apps, Versent (being sold) | Professional services A$461m; cloud apps A$356m | | Government-funded | Telstra Universal Service Obligation Performance Agreement (TUSOPA) | A$192m (net of levy) | | Other | Telstra Health, Telstra Energy, Digicel Pacific (PNG and the Pacific) | Digicel Pacific income A$593m; "Other" product income A$1,242m | The model is overwhelmingly recurring and subscription-based. Analyst estimate: more than 80% of income is recurring service or infrastructure revenue, with hardware the main non-recurring component. ### Value chain position Telstra is vertically integrated across: **Passive infrastructure:** ducts, fibre, towers, exchanges, subsea cables, satellite ground stations. **Active network:** RAN, core, transmission, IP and transport. **Wholesale:** - Retail distribution: around 260 retail stores, digital channels, MVNO and sub-brands. In fixed access, it sits downstream of nbn co, the government-owned wholesale monopoly, as a reseller. In mobile it is fully integrated, owning both the spectrum licences and the network. In international markets it is a capacity owner and operator: it owns or operates 400,000 km of subsea cable and about 2,000 points of presence. ### Customer types and end-markets | Customer segment | FY26 underlying income | Notes | |---|---|---| | Telstra Consumer | A$10,941m | Mobile A$7,422m; Fixed C&SB A$3,501m | | Telstra Business (small business) | A$2,899m | Mobile A$1,953m (+6.4%) | | Telstra Enterprise (large enterprise and government) | A$4,255m | Fixed Enterprise A$2,895m (−8.0%) | | Telstra International | A$2,269m | Wholesale & Enterprise A$1,676m; Digicel Pacific A$593m | | Telstra InfraCo (wholesale and infrastructure) | A$4,301m | Includes internal income | | Other (Health, Energy, misc.) | A$1,153m | — | ### Independent characterisation Telstra is best understood as three businesses with very different economics: 1. **A high-return, oligopolistic mobile utility.** About 48% EBITDA margin, with pricing power demonstrated by successive annual price rises (most recently May 2026). 2. **An infrastructure annuity.** InfraCo Fixed and Amplitel generate about 66% EBITDAaL margins and CPI-linked contracted revenue — a business that could support infrastructure-style valuation multiples if separated. 3. **A shrinking, low-margin legacy book.** Fixed Enterprise has a 6% EBITDA margin, Fixed C&SB a 10% margin on nbn resale, and international wholesale and enterprise operations are being actively divested or exited. The investment debate centres on whether management can sustain mobile ARPU growth and infrastructure growth (Aura and AI-driven capacity) fast enough to offset structural decline in fixed. It also turns on whether this can be done while lifting network-resilience spending after July 2026 and absorbing about A$2.8 billion of spectrum re-licensing payments between FY28 and FY33.

Company Headquarters: Shenzhen, China Founded: 1985 Workforce: 68,240 Company Working: ZTE Corporation (ZTE) designs, develops, manufactures, and markets information and telecommunication technology products. ZTE has developed a comprehensive telecommunications product line, covering every vertical sector of wireless networks, access & bearer networks, core networks, services, and terminals markets. The company operates through three business segments namely, carriers’ networks segment, government, and corporate business segment, and consumer businesses segment. The company’s carrier network segment includes wireless and wired access, core networks, bearer networks, and telecommunication software systems and services. Its government and corporate segment offers information solutions such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, communication networks, and cloud computing products. Under the consumer segment, the company develops, produces, and sells smartphones, home information terminals, and mobile data terminals. Fixed-mobile convergence is catered under consumer business segment. It offers its products and services to various industry verticals including government, finance, transportation, education, and energy. The company has R&D centers in the US, Sweden, and China with 35,000 granted patents out of 75,000 filled patents. It has a global customer in more than 160 countries with presence in North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Company Headquarters: France Founded: 1990 Workforce: ~130,307 Company Working: In France and abroad, Orange S.A. (Orange) offers customers, businesses, and other telecom operators a variety of fixed and mobile telecommunications, data transmission, and other value-added services. Its sectors include Enterprise, International Carriers & Shared Services, Mobile Financial Services, France, Spain, and Other European Countries. It also operates in Africa and the Middle East. The company provides convergence packages, fixed broadband and narrowband services, fixed network business solutions, including voice and data, and mobile services, including voice, SMS, and data. Additionally, it offers the sale of mobile phones, mobile terminals, broadband technology, connected gadgets, and accessories. The business also sells related equipment while offering IT and integration services, including unified communication and collaboration services like LAN and telephony, consultancy, integration, project management, hosting and infrastructure services like cloud computing, customer relations management, and other applications, security services, and video conferencing.

1.1.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW Company Headquarters: UK Founded: 1982 Workforce: ~10,000 Company Working: Vodafone Group Plc. is the world’s leading telecommunications group which helps businesses to succeed in the digital world. The company’s product offerings comprise mobile services, fixed-line services including broadband, TV offerings & voice, mobile money services, Internet of Things (IoT) services, cloud & security services, and carrier services. The company’s technology offerings comprise analytics & automation, cloud, collaboration, data center, digital transformation, enterprise networks, innovation, mobility, security, and related services. The company caters to various industry verticals such as energy, education, financial services, retail, and hospitality, as well as government organizations. Globally, the company has a presence in Middle East & Africa, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Company Headquarters: Spain Founded: 1924 Workforce: ~120,138 Company Working: Telefonica S.A. (Telefonica) is one of the leading telecommunication company with a diversified telecommunications network that provides a range of services. The company offers wireline, wireless, DSL, TV, and other digital services. The company operates through five business segments namely Telefonica Spain, Telefonica Brazil, Telefonica Germany, Telefonica UK, and Telefonica Hispano America. These segments are engaged in providing wireless, wireline, cable, Internet, television businesses and other digital services. Telefonica Spain offers fixed telephony, internet and data, mobile communications, Pay-TV, and wholesale services in Spain. Telefonica Brazil manages the telecommunications operations in Brazil. Telefonica Germany serves the German market. Telefonica UK provides fixed telephony, Internet and data, and mobile communications in the UK. Telefonica Hispano-American oversees the fixed and mobile telephony services, broadband, Internet, data, broadband, television, value added services operations and development in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and Central America, Ecuador, and Uruguay. The fixed businesses in Europe and Latin America offer traditional fixed telecommunication services, including public switched telephone network (PSTN) lines; integrated services for the digital network (ISDN) accesses; public telephone services, local, domestic and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications services, corporate communications services; supplementary value-added services and others. It also offers high-speed Internet services through fiber to the home (FTTH) in certain markets (primarily Spain, Brazil, and Chile) and VDSL-based services (primarily Spain and Germany). Telefonica also offers voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services in some markets. Geographically, the company operates in Spain, Brazil, Germany, the UK, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Central and Hispanic America.

1.1 China Mobile Limited 1.1.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW Company Headquarters: Hong Kong Founded: 1997 Workforce: ~ 493,000 Company Working: China Mobile Limited, a leading telecommunication service provider in Mainland China offers communication services to its end users. The company’s business offerings consist of wireline broadband, mobile voice and data business, and information and communication services. The company also provides digital applications for reading, video, music, animation, and gaming. The company offers its products and services to various industry verticals including government, education, and transportation. China Mobile Limited operates through various subsidiaries including China Mobile Group Device Co. Ltd, China Mobile Group Finance Co., Ltd, China Mobile International Limited, China Mobile IoT Company Limited, China Mobile Online Services Co., Ltd, and China Mobile Internet Company Limited. Geographically, the company has a presence in North America, southeast Asia, the Middle East & Africa, and Europe.

Verizon is the incumbent premium-network operator of the United States telecommunications market and, by wireless retail connections, its largest. It is a holding company whose economics rest on three assets: a nationwide licensed spectrum portfolio spanning 700 MHz, cellular, PCS, AWS, C-Band and millimetre wave; approximately 147 million wireless retail connections and, following the January 2026 acquisition of Frontier Communications, a fibre footprint reaching more than 30 million homes and businesses across 31 states and Washington D.C.; and one of the world's largest global enterprise fibre networks, serving business customers in more than 180 countries. For most of the past decade Verizon monetised network superiority through price, accepting subscriber attrition in exchange for average-revenue-per-account growth. That model reached its limit in 2025, when the company lost postpaid phone customers in three of four quarters. Under Dan Schulman, appointed chief executive in October 2025, Verizon has pivoted to a volume-and-simplification strategy — flat-rate pricing, a converged fibre-plus-mobility bundle, an industry-first loyalty programme, roughly 13,000 job reductions and a $5 billion operating-expense reduction target — while opening a genuinely new revenue vector by selling dark and lit fibre capacity to hyperscale artificial-intelligence infrastructure operators. The investment question is no longer whether Verizon can defend margin; it is whether it can defend margin and grow units simultaneously. The FY2021 figure (approximately 118,400, of which roughly 89% were US-based) and the FY2025 figure (approximately 89,900) are taken directly from the respective Forms 10-K. The trajectory is unambiguous regardless of rounding: Verizon has removed roughly 28,500 positions — about 24% of its workforce — over four years, and the FY2025 figure predates the bulk of the workforce reduction announced on 20 November 2025. --- ### The company's own characterisation In the FY2025 Form 10-K, Verizon describes itself as a holding company that, acting through its subsidiaries, is one of the world's leading providers of communications, technology, information and streaming products and services to consumers, businesses and government entities. It states that it has a presence around the world and offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its networks and platforms, designed to meet customer demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity and security. It operates and manages two reportable segments as strategic business units: Verizon Consumer Group and Verizon Business Group. ### Independent characterisation Verizon is fundamentally a capital-intensive subscription utility wrapped around a spectrum and fibre asset base, with a declining hardware-resale business attached to it and an emergent infrastructure-wholesale business bolted on top. **Revenue model composition.** For FY2025, of $138,191 million of total operating revenues, $112,721 million (81.6%) came from service and other revenues and $25,470 million (18.4%) from wireless equipment sales (FY2025 Form 10-K income statement). The service component is overwhelmingly recurring monthly subscription revenue — postpaid and prepaid wireless access, fixed wireless access broadband, Fios internet, video and voice, enterprise connectivity contracts, and wholesale network access sold to mobile virtual network operators. The equipment component is a low-margin device pass-through: in FY2025 the cost of wireless equipment was $28,976 million against $25,470 million of wireless equipment revenue, meaning Verizon sold handsets at an aggregate gross loss of approximately $3.5 billion. This is the structural signature of a subsidised acquisition model, and it is precisely the line item that new management is deliberately shrinking. In 2Q26, equipment revenue fell nearly 20%, or more than $1.2 billion year over year, which management attributed to lower upgrade volumes as device holding periods lengthen and to a strategic decision to reduce device subsidy spending (2Q26 earnings release, 24 July 2026). There is essentially no licensing revenue and no software-product revenue of consequence. Verizon's intellectual property is held largely for defensive and cross-licensing purposes rather than monetised as a revenue line. **Value chain position.** Verizon sits at the network layer. It buys spectrum licences from the FCC and secondary-market sellers; buys radio access network, transport and core equipment from Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Ciena, Corning and others; buys handsets from Apple, Samsung and Google for resale; builds and operates the physical network; and sells connectivity directly to end customers and wholesale to resellers. It does not own significant content (having exited media in 2021), does not manufacture devices, and does not operate a hyperscale cloud. Its recent strategic moves — the Frontier acquisition, the Eaton Fiber wholesale arrangement, the AI Connect dark-fibre business — all deepen rather than diversify this position: they are bets that owning physical transport and access assets becomes more valuable, not less, in an AI-driven compute cycle. **Customer types.** (i) Individual consumers and households, served postpaid under the Verizon brand and prepaid under Verizon Value brands; (ii) small and medium businesses; (iii) large enterprises and multinational corporations; (iv) US federal, state and local government agencies and educational institutions, plus more than 40,000 public safety agencies (per a January 2026 US House Homeland Security Committee letter); (v) wholesale counterparties, including cable operators reselling Verizon's network as MVNOs — most importantly Comcast and Charter, whose long-term MVNO agreement Verizon amended and extended in January 2026; and (vi), newly, hyperscale data-centre operators buying fibre capacity. **End markets.** Consumer mobility and home broadband; enterprise and public-sector connectivity, managed networking and security; wholesale carrier transport; IoT and connected fleet; and AI infrastructure connectivity. **Distribution.** Verizon uses direct channels (company-operated stores, sales and service centres, business direct sales teams, digital and omni-channel), indirect channels (exclusive agents, national retailers, convenience-store chains for prepaid), and, for Business, resellers, distributors and systems integrators. In November 2025 the company announced it would convert 179 corporate-owned retail stores to franchised operations and close one — a deliberate shift of fixed retail cost off balance sheet.

AT&T Inc. is the United States' largest telecommunications carrier by wireless subscribers and, since 2022, a deliberately narrowed connectivity pure-play. Having divested WarnerMedia, Vrio, Xandr and its DIRECTV stake, management has concentrated capital on two physical assets it believes are structurally scarce: a nationwide low- and mid-band spectrum portfolio and the largest fibre-to-the-premises footprint in America. The 2026 reorganisation into "Advanced Connectivity" and "Legacy" segments makes the thesis explicit — grow 5G and fibre revenue fast enough to outrun a deliberately accelerated shutdown of the copper network by year-end 2029. The February 2026 acquisition of Lumen's Mass Markets fibre business and the July 2026 USD 23 billion EchoStar spectrum purchase are the capital expressions of that thesis. AT&T is therefore best understood not as a diversified media-telecom conglomerate but as a leveraged, cash-generative infrastructure operator making a concentrated bet that converged fibre-plus-wireless bundles will defend pricing in a three-player wireless oligopoly. --- ### The company's own description In its Form 10-K for FY2025, AT&T describes itself as a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates provide wireless and wireline telecommunications and related services. The filing organises operations for FY2025 into two reportable segments — Communications (comprising the Mobility, Business Wireline and Consumer Wireline business units) and Latin America (the Mexican wireless business). The 10-K characterises Mobility as providing nationwide wireless service and equipment; Business Wireline as providing advanced ethernet-based fibre services, fixed wireless services, IP voice and managed professional services, together with legacy voice and data services and related equipment, to business customers; and Consumer Wireline as providing broadband services including multi-gig fibre connections and AT&T Internet Air, plus legacy telephony voice, to residential customers. The Latin America segment is disclosed as accounting for approximately 3 percent of total segment operating revenues in both 2025 and 2024 and less than 1 percent of segment operating income in both years. Effective with first-quarter 2026 reporting, AT&T realigned its internal management and reporting structure. The 8-K of 22 April 2026 states that the realignment reflects "the evolution of our business model to focus on delivering converged advanced connectivity services across 5G and fibre to consumer and business customers" and that the new structure "provides better visibility into the progress of exiting our copper-based Legacy operations." The three current reportable segments are Advanced Connectivity, Legacy and Latin America. In its standard corporate boilerplate as of July 2026, AT&T states that it helps "more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses" connect, and references "the first phone call 150 years ago" — a change from the "140+ years ago" formulation used in the January 2026 release, reflecting the 2026 sesquicentennial of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent. ### Independent characterisation AT&T is a capital-intensive, subscription-led network operator. Roughly nine-tenths of consolidated revenue is now generated by the Advanced Connectivity segment (AT&T disclosed in January 2026 that on a recast basis the segment contributed approximately 90 percent of consolidated revenues in 2025). The economics are those of an infrastructure utility with a consumer-marketing overlay: very high fixed costs, low incremental cost per subscriber, and returns determined principally by penetration of built passings and by churn. **Revenue model.** The mix is overwhelmingly recurring service revenue with a material, low-margin device pass-through. In the second quarter of 2026, Advanced Connectivity operating revenues of USD 28,615 million comprised USD 23,478 million of service revenue (82.0 percent) and USD 5,137 million of equipment revenue (18.0 percent). Within service revenue the composition was: wireless service USD 17,413 million; advanced home internet USD 2,926 million; business fibre and advanced connectivity USD 1,946 million; business transitional and other USD 1,042 million; other service USD 151 million. There is effectively no licensing revenue and no software-subscription revenue of consequence; the cybersecurity software business was contributed to the LevelBlue joint venture in 2024 and the media/licensing businesses were divested in 2022. **Value chain position.** AT&T is a vertically integrated owner-operator of the access layer. It owns spectrum licences (carrying value USD 128,148 million net at 31 December 2025), radio access network equipment, backhaul, long-haul transport, central offices and, increasingly, fibre-to-the-premises plant (net property, plant and equipment of USD 131,559 million at 31 December 2025). It does not manufacture equipment (Ericsson and Nokia are the principal RAN vendors) and it no longer owns content (divested 2022) or satellite video distribution (DIRECTV stake sold 2025). Following the Lumen transaction, AT&T has begun to unbundle even network ownership: the acquired fibre plant was placed in a wholly owned subsidiary, "Forged Fiber," in which AT&T intends to sell a controlling interest to a co-investing equity partner, with the subsidiary classified as held-for-sale and reported as discontinued operations. This is a meaningful strategic signal — AT&T is willing to separate the customer relationship (retained) from the passive infrastructure (partially syndicated). **Customer types and end markets.** Three demand pools: (i) US consumer households — postpaid and prepaid wireless, fibre broadband, fixed wireless access; (ii) US businesses of all sizes, from small business through Fortune 500 and public sector, including the FirstNet public-safety network; (iii) Mexican consumers and businesses through AT&T Mexico and Unefon. Wholesale is a fourth, smaller pool: AT&T is the primary network services partner to EchoStar's Boost Mobile under an enhanced long-term wholesale agreement struck alongside the 2025 spectrum deal, and it sells wholesale transport to carriers and hyperscalers. **Where the money is actually made.** Wireless service revenue is the profit engine. In the fourth quarter of 2025 the Mobility business unit generated USD 24,354 million of revenue and USD 9,163 million of EBITDA — an EBITDA service margin of 54.0 percent. Consumer fibre is the growth engine, with FY2025 consumer fibre revenue of USD 8.6 billion, up 17.0 percent. The Legacy copper business is a melting ice cube being deliberately accelerated: second-quarter 2026 Legacy revenue of USD 1,632 million was down 25.9 percent year over year, with operating income and EBITDA of USD 523 million, down 45.5 percent.

Company Headquarters: US Founded: 2017 Workforce: ~2,245 Company Working: Ribbon Communications Operating Company, Inc. (Ribbon) is one of the leading providers of network solutions to telecommunications, wireless and cable service providers, and enterprises across industry verticals. The company allows service providers and enterprises to modernize their communications networks and provide secure Real-Time Communication (RTC) solutions to their customers. The company operates through one segment that provides service provider and enterprise solutions. The service provider solution aids fixed and mobile operators, cable providers, Internet service providers (ISPs), and interconnect service providers to transform their networks, monetize and capitalize on growing market segments by introducing differentiating products, applications, and services for their customers. The service provider solution includes fixed networks, mobile networks (mobility), secure network interconnects, network functions virtualization (NFV), cloud communications as a Service, and communications security solutions. The enterprise solutions aid the enterprises to securely connect to SIP trunks and modernize their communications networks. The enterprise solutions include unified communications (UC), UC security, session management, Nortel PBX, Microsoft Skype for Business, and cloud communications solutions. Furthermore, the company completed the merger with Sonus Networks, Inc., one of the service providers for real-time communications and GENBAND Holdings Company, specialized in IP-based real-time communications software products developed for fixed wireline, mobile, and cable service providers. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and the rest of the world.

Company Headquarters: US Founded: 1992 Workforce: ~10,400 Company Working: Nuance Communications, Inc. develops conversational and cognitive artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. The firm creates software that recognizes, analyses, and responds to people, enhancing human intelligence and boosting productivity and security. Its Healthcare division offers clinical speech and clinical language understanding technologies that help improve the clinical documentation process, from capturing the whole patient record to improving clinical documentation and reimbursement quality standards. dragon medical one, a cloud-based speech solution; computer-assisted physician documentation; diagnostic imaging solutions; Nuance dragon ambient experience, a voice-enabled solution; and clinical documentation enhancement and coding are just a few of the company's offerings. The company offers voice recognition and natural language understanding solutions, which includes automated speech recognition (ASR), natural language understanding (NLU) capabilities, dialog and information management, biometric speaker authentication, text-to-speech (TTS), and optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities. The company's enterprise sector focuses on providing automated customer solutions and services for phone, mobile, web, and messaging channels, particularly employing speech, natural language understanding, and artificial intelligence. Intelligent engagement solutions, conversational AI, engagement AI, and security AI are among the company's offerings. The company's other division offers voicemail transcribing services. healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, government, and retail are among the industries served by the corporation. Nuance Communications, Inc. offers and sells its solutions and technologies through a network of resellers worldwide, including system integrators, independent software vendors, value-added resellers, distributors, hardware vendors, telecommunications carriers, and e-commerce Websites. Microsoft Corporation purchased Nuance Communications for USD 19.7 billion in April 2021, boosting its healthcare position with a pioneer in voice recognition technology. Nuance's technology is used by more than 55 percent of physicians and 75 percent of radiologists in the United States. This acquisition builds on the two companies' current telemedicine collaboration, which began in 2019 and has been accelerated by COVID-19 lockdowns around the world.

Apple is the world's largest consumer technology franchise by revenue and profitability, and — as of mid-August 2026 — the second most valuable listed company globally. Its economic engine is a vertically integrated hardware–silicon–software–services stack anchored on an installed base that surpassed 2.5 billion active devices in the December 2025 quarter. iPhone contributed 50.4% of FY2025 revenue; Services, the highest-margin and fastest-compounding line, contributed 26.2% at a gross margin near 75%. Apple designs its own silicon, controls its operating systems, owns the primary distribution channel for third-party software on its platforms, and outsources substantially all manufacturing. The company is presently navigating three simultaneous inflections: a CEO succession (John Ternus replaces Tim Cook on 1 September 2026), a strategic pivot in artificial intelligence executed through a licensing partnership with Google's Gemini, and an acute global memory-component shortage that management has characterised as a once-in-a-century pricing event. --- **The company's own characterisation.** Apple's FY2025 Form 10-K describes the business as designing, manufacturing and marketing smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and selling a range of related services. It identifies six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS and tvOS — as providing consistent experiences across devices, and lists services spanning advertising, AppleCare, cloud, digital content and payments. The 10-K states that the company's customers are primarily in the consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise and government markets, and that it sells through both direct channels (its own retail and online stores and direct sales force) and indirect channels (third-party cellular carriers, wholesalers, retailers and resellers). During FY2025 the direct/indirect split of net sales was 40%/60%. **Independent characterisation.** Apple operates a closed-loop platform business disguised as a hardware manufacturer. The correct way to model it is as a two-stage machine. *Stage one — installed-base acquisition.* Hardware is sold at gross margins that, while high for consumer electronics, are the lower-margin half of the business. Products gross margin ran at approximately 38.7% in Q2 FY2026 versus 76.7% for Services (management commentary, Q2 FY2026 earnings call). Hardware's strategic function is to install and renew an addressable base. That base exceeded 2.5 billion active devices as of the December 2025 quarter, up from 2.35 billion a year earlier. *Stage two — monetisation of the base.* Services extract recurring, capital-light, near-software-margin revenue from that base through seven identified streams: advertising, AppleCare, cloud services, digital content (App Store and Apple's own subscription properties), payment services, and licensing. Cumulative paid subscriptions across Apple's platforms and third-party App Store subscriptions surpassed 1.5 billion as of Q3 FY2026 — roughly three years after crossing 1 billion. **Revenue model mix (FY2025).** Product sales 73.8% ($307,003M); Services 26.2% ($109,158M). Within Services, a material but undisclosed component is licensing revenue from Google for default search placement in Safari — estimated at approximately $20 billion in 2022 per unsealed exhibits in *United States v. Google LLC*, which would have represented roughly one-fifth of FY2024 Services revenue. Apple does not disclose this figure. It is the single largest identified concentration risk inside the Services line. **Value chain position.** Apple occupies the design, silicon architecture, operating system, brand, and retail distribution layers, and has increasingly extended into the component layer through in-house silicon (A-series, M-series, C-series modems, N-series networking). It does not own volume assembly; substantially all manufacturing is performed by outsourcing partners, principally in China, India and Vietnam. It is a price-setter in premium smartphones and a price-taker in memory — a structural asymmetry that became the dominant financial story of 2026. **Customer types and end-markets.** Consumer (dominant), small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government and healthcare. Apple maintains dedicated go-to-market programmes for business, education, healthcare and government, but does not disclose revenue by customer type.

Company Headquarters: The Netherlands Founded:2006 Workforce: ~15,000 Company Working: Gemalto N.V. (Gemalto) is a provider of digital security products and services, including microprocessor cards and secure personal devices. The company develops and installs software in diverse products, including subscriber identity module (SIM), payment cards, and electronic identification (eID) documents, and others. It also offers platforms and services to monitor and manage these devices, check identities, and manage transactions. Gemalto was acquired by Thales Group in April 2019. Moreover, Gemalto operates through two reportable business segments, namely identity, IoT & cybersecurity, and smartcards & issuance. The company offers e-SIMs through both these segments that combine businesses associated with mobile cellular technologies, mobile network operators, and industrial organizations. For mobile network operators, the company's solutions include SIM/universal integrated circuit card (UICC) cards and back-office platforms and services, including roaming optimization, mobile payment, mobile marketing, personal data management, and trusted service management (TSM). For industrial organizations, Gemalto offers solutions designed to address the needs of a range of market verticals such as utilities, health, and automotive. These industrial solutions enable machine-to-machine (M2M) data exchange through hardware modules and operating software that connect machines to digital networks. It also offers cloud-based M2M application enablement and late-stage personalization (LSP) platforms. The company operates in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Company Headquarters: Malaysia Founded: 1997 Workforce: ~2,368 Company Working: Scicom (MSC) Bhd (Scicom) is a Malaysian technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company. The company also offers end-to-end services, deploys integrated and advanced solutions to the clients to digitally transform their businesses. It offers outsourced solutions to multi-national and international corporate clients, domestic conglomerates, larger SMBs, and governments. It has been a public listed company (PLC) since 2005 on the main board of Bursa Malaysia. The company operates from four centers in Kuala Lumpur and Colombo; it has also opened new e-solutions centers. The e-solution centers are served by IT Infrastructure in the Scicom Private Cloud and linked via OCEAN, the company’s network. The services include integrated BPO and contact centers, education, e-commerce, e-government, and digital marketing solutions. Scicom has developed identity management solutions for the homeland and border security markets and digital government solutions for government clients. For identity management solutions, the company has developed the following solutions – e-visa processing, border control systems, advance passenger screening platforms, biometric platforms, citizen identification solutions, digital identity solutions (electronic know your customer), international student management systems, and migrant worker management systems.The majority of the solutions focus on digital government services and solutions for federal, local and state government clients. The company offers e-government solutions which are customized according to the client’s specific needs.

Company Headquarters: India Founded: 1983 Workforce: ~25,000 Company Working: BLS International is a global provider of visa, passport, consular, and citizen services to governments and diplomatic missions. The company is headquartered in New Delhi, India and has a presence in over 66 countries with more than 25,000 employees serving clients in various sectors. The company has 15,500 Centers across the globe. BLS International offers a wide range of services, including visa processing, passport services, document attestation, consular services, and eVisa services. The company partners with several governments and diplomatic missions worldwide to provide these services, including the Government of India, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in New Delhi, the High Commission of Canada in India, and the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi. In addition, BLS International also provides outsourcing services to governments, such as biometric enrollment, identity management, and document management. The company leverages technology and innovation to streamline its services and provide customers with a seamless and efficient experience. With over three decades of experience in the industry, BLS International has established itself as a leading provider of visa and passport services globally, with a commitment to customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Company Headquarters: GERMANY Founded: 1981 Workforce: ~3,300 Company Working: Muehlbauer AG is a manufacturer of technological products and systems. It also offers software solutions for various applications such as production and personalization of cards, passports, and radio frequency identification. It offers plastic and smart cards, passports/e-passports, forming systems, precision parts, and other related products. Other business offerings are the sorting of microchips, carrier tape systems as well as automation, and labeling and traceability systems. The company operates through three divisions– Parts and Systems, Automation and Tecurity. The Parts & Systems division of the company manufactures high-precision components for safety-sensitive sectors such as aerospace or medical technology. Under its Automation division, the company develops, produces, and sells machines and automation solutions for the semiconductor backend, RFID/smart label, ID solutions, and solar sectors. In the Tecurity business unit, the company acts as a system partner and offers comprehensive solutions in the field of Smart ID from the initial conception to the final issue and verification of ID documents.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Company Headquarters: Netherlands Founded: 1836 Workforce: ~18,553 Company Working: Wolters Kluwer is a leading provider of software and services for clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and has applications in finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory fields. The solutions provided by the company help its customers to get better analytics and improve the overall productivity. It operates through four business segments, namely health, tax & accounting, governance, risk & compliance and legal & regulatory. The tax and accounting solutions are offered under the tax & accounting business segment. It provides tax and accounting solutions for businesses of all sizes across the globe.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Company Headquarters: New Zealand Founded: 2006 Workforce: ~2,531 Company Working: Xero Limited (Xero) is a software company, engaged in developing cloud-based accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses. It has offices in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, among other countries; Xero has built a subscriber base of more than 1.5 million worldwide. The company has connected with more than 16,000 accounting and bookkeeping firms across the globe. It offers its products to various businesses, including retail, legal, hospitality, cafes, e-commerce, manufacturing, tourism, real estate, and franchises, among others.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Company Headquarters: Italy Founded: 1979 Workforce: ~1,880 Company Overview: TeamSystem SpA (TeamSystem) is a leading digital solution provider for businesses of all sizes. It operates through three business segments namely software solutions, cloud software solutions, and hardware. The software solution segment includes software licensed to professionals and businesses. The cloud software solutions segment includes software solutions and related subscriptions. The hardware segment includes hardware systems and other related components. Reviso Cloud Accounting Limited is a subsidiary of the company which provides software applications for businesses to handle customers, suppliers, and purchase invoices among others. TeamSystem has over 1.4 million customers and more than 500 partners.

SAP SE is the world's largest vendor of enterprise application software and the only Fortune-50-scale technology company headquartered in Europe. It sits at the transactional core of the global economy: its ERP systems record and execute the financial, procurement, supply-chain, manufacturing and human-capital processes of a large share of the world's biggest enterprises. The company is roughly four-fifths of the way through a decade-long conversion from a perpetual-licence, on-premise vendor to a cloud subscription business — cloud revenue reached €21.02bn in FY2025, 57% of total revenue, against €8.70bn and 32% in FY2021. That transition is now producing the operating leverage the equity story always promised: FY2025 non-IFRS operating margin of 28.3% and free cash flow of €8.24bn, nearly double the prior year. The strategic question for the next cycle is whether SAP can convert its unmatched process-and-data estate into a defensible position in agentic enterprise AI before hyperscalers, Oracle, Salesforce and AI-native challengers commoditize the application layer above it. --- ### What SAP does SAP develops, licenses, hosts, operates and supports enterprise application software, together with the data and AI platform layer beneath it and the professional services required to implement and run it. Its core product is enterprise resource planning (ERP) software — the system of record that governs a company's general ledger, financial close, procurement, inventory, production planning, order-to-cash, and workforce administration. Around that core SAP has assembled adjacent "line-of-business" suites for spend management (Ariba, Concur, Fieldglass), supply chain (Integrated Business Planning, Business Network), human capital (SuccessFactors), customer experience (Commerce, Sales, Service, Customer Data Cloud), and business transformation management (Signavio, LeanIX, WalkMe). In SAP's own framing from the FY2025 disclosures, the company describes itself as "a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI" that "stands at the nexus of business and technology," uniting "business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience." ### Independent characterization The more analytically useful description is that SAP operates three economically distinct businesses inside one P&L: 1. **A declining but extraordinarily profitable maintenance annuity.** Software support revenue of €10,525m in FY2025 (down 7% from €11,290m in FY2024) carries gross margins near 89%. This is the cash engine funding the transition. SAP has explicitly guided that the constant-currency decline rate of software support revenue will *accelerate* in coming years as customers migrate. 2. **A rapidly compounding cloud subscription business.** Cloud revenue of €21,023m in FY2025 (+23% reported, +26% constant currency), of which Cloud ERP Suite is €18,119m (+28%). Cloud gross margin reached 74.2% IFRS / 75.0% non-IFRS in FY2025, up 1.4pp / 1.7pp year over year — evidence that scale economics in SAP's hyperscaler-hosted delivery model are real. 3. **A low-margin services arm** (€4,262m, down 2% in FY2025) that exists largely to seed and de-risk cloud deals rather than to generate profit in its own right. SAP deliberately channels most implementation work to partners. ### Revenue model and mix | Revenue line (€m, IFRS) | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Cloud revenue | 8701 | 11426 | 13664 | 17141 | 21023 | | Thereof Cloud ERP Suite | 0 | 8209 | 10626 | 14165 | 18119 | | Thereof Extension Suite | 0 | 0 | 2290 | 2436 | 2559 | | Thereof IaaS | 0 | 0 | 748 | 540 | 345 | | Software licenses | 0 | 0 | 1764 | 1399 | 990 | | Software support | 0 | 0 | 11496 | 11290 | 10525 | | Cloud and software revenue | 23361 | 25391 | 26924 | 29830 | 32538 | | Services revenue | 3592 | 4128 | 4283 | 4346 | 4262 | | Total revenue | 26953 | 29520 | 31207 | 34176 | 36800 | | Share of more predictable revenue (%) | 75 | 79 | 81 | 83 | 86 | *Zeros indicate line items not separately disclosed on a comparable continuing-operations basis in the FY2025 Five-Year Summary or FY2025 income statement; Cloud ERP Suite was first disclosed for FY2022. Source: SAP Integrated Report 2025, Consolidated Income Statements and Five-Year Summary.* The commercial model has four pricing constructs: (i) subscription per user/per module/per consumption metric for cloud; (ii) legacy perpetual licence plus ~19–22% annual maintenance for on-premise; (iii) time-based on-premise licences (recognized at a point in time, with associated support over time — combined with cloud into SAP's "subscription revenue" measure of €21,328m in FY2025, up 22%); and (iv) time-and-materials or fixed-fee professional services. Cross-cutting bundles — RISE with SAP (managed migration of existing ERP estates to private cloud) and GROW with SAP (greenfield public-cloud ERP for mid-market and new logos) — package software, infrastructure, tooling and services into a single contract. ### Value chain position and customers SAP occupies the application layer. It does not own its own hyperscale infrastructure at scale — it runs the substantial majority of its cloud estate on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, supplemented by SAP-operated data centres for sovereign and regulated workloads (Delos Cloud in Germany, SAP NS2 in the United States, and the EU AI Cloud launched November 27, 2025). Downstream, implementation and change management are performed overwhelmingly by a partner ecosystem — Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, IBM, PwC, KPMG, EY, Tech Mahindra, Birlasoft and thousands of regional partners. Customer types skew heavily toward large enterprises and public-sector bodies. FY2025 and H1 2026 disclosed wins illustrate the profile: adidas, Bertelsmann, BioNTech, Daimler Truck, Deloitte, Électricité de France, H&M Group, HM Revenue & Customs, Jabil, Kirin Holdings, Nokia, Pirelli, RTX, Toyota, Weir Group, ACCIONA, Airbus, Electrolux, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, Hindustan Zinc, Ørsted, Shell, Sun Pharma, Vonovia, Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce SMR, Mondelez International, Robert Bosch, Schaeffler, Zalando, Deutsche Bundesbank and Bank of Italy. Mid-market penetration runs through GROW with SAP and partner-led motions. End-markets served are effectively every asset-heavy and process-heavy industry: discrete and process manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and defence, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, consumer products, retail, wholesale distribution, utilities and energy, oil and gas, mining, banking and insurance, telecommunications, transportation and logistics, professional services, healthcare, higher education and public sector.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Roboto Condensed"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Company Headquarters: Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Founded: 1981 Workforce: ~ 12,755 Company Working: The Sage Group (Sage) is a technology solutions and services company which offers accounting solutions, financials, enterprise management, people, Sage business cloud people, and Sage Intacct— a solution specifically for CFOs to provide access to financial reports and integrated management across business entities. The company targets professional users, typically accountants or bookkeepers, who require high functionality and technical efficiency to gain insights into their businesses. Sage offers solutions to small and medium-sized businesses in the manufacturing and education sectors according to their business needs. The company serves over 3 million customers across 23 countries in Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, and the Americas.