The Upcoming 2014 Fortune 500: How Will The Biggest IT Companies Fare?

Fortune Telling

Fortune is close to debuting this year's list of the 500 largest companies in the United States as measured by revenue. And as in years past, you can expect information technology vendors to be prominently represented on the list.

In preparation for the Class of '14, let's revisit the 25 largest technology companies on last year's list and take a look at what kind of year they've had since. Any guesses at which companies will move up and which ones will slip?

Apple

CEO: Tim Cook

With revenue of $156.5 billion in fiscal 2012, Apple was the biggest tech company on last year's Fortune 500 list and No. 6 on the list overall.

For fiscal 2013, Apple's sales grew 9.2 percent to $170.9 billion. So the company's prospects for remaining the biggest IT company on the Fortune 100 list -- and maybe even moving up the list overall -- appear pretty solid.

AT&T

CEO: Randall Stephenson

AT&T was No. 11 on the 2013 Fortune 500 ranking with fiscal 2012 revenue of $127.4 billion.

For fiscal 2013, AT&T's sales grew 1 percent to $128.8 billion. It won't catch up to Apple, but can it stay ahead of other IT companies?

Hewlett-Packard

CEO: Meg Whitman

Hewlett-Packard was the biggest technology company on the Fortune 500 two years ago (at No. 10). But with sales of $120.4 billion in fiscal 2012, it slipped to No. 15 on last year's overall Fortune 500 ranking, putting it behind Apple and AT&T.

The company's prospects for climbing the list this year aren't great given that its fiscal 2013 revenue slipped more than 6 percent to $112.3 billion.

Verizon Communications

CEO: Lowell McAdam

Verizon was No. 16 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $115.8 billion.

In fiscal 2013, the telecommunications company grew its sales 4 percent to $120.6 billion, putting it in a strong position to surpass HP on this year's Fortune 500 list.

IBM

CEO: Ginni Rometty

IBM was No. 20 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $104.5 billion.

IBM was the biggest IT company on the Fortune 500 ranking as recently as 2006 (No. 10 overall with sales of $91.1 billion). But HP surpassed IBM in 2007 and the company has been slipping since. With fiscal 2013 sales of $99.8 billion (down more than 4 percent), that slippage is likely to continue this year.

Microsoft

CEO: Satya Nadella

Microsoft was No. 35 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $73.7 billion.

Microsoft reported revenue of $77.8 billion for fiscal 2013, up more than 5 percent. While that likely won't be enough for it to surpass other IT companies, it could help the software giant move up in the overall Fortune 500 rankings.

Comcast

CEO: Brian Roberts

Comcast was No. 46 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $62.6 billion.

Comcast reported revenue of $64.7 billion for fiscal 2013. While that's up more than 3 percent, it might not be enough for the company to hold its position among IT companies with fast-growing Amazon.com moving up the ranks.

Amazon.com

CEO: Jeff Bezos

Amazon.com was No. 49 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $61.1 billion.

Amazon racked up sales of $74.5 billion in fiscal 2013 -- almost 29 percent year-over-year growth. That should certainly be enough for the giant online retailer to move up in the overall rankings a few notches and surpass Comcast among IT companies. Given its rapid growth, could the company overtake Microsoft by the 2015 list?

Dell

CEO: Michael Dell

Dell was No. 51 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2013 revenue (ended Feb. 1) of $56.9 billion.

Dell, of course, became a privately held company in October 2013 and limits disclosure of its sales and earnings numbers to "current holders of Dell's debt securities and prospective qualified institutional debt investors." So it's unclear if Dell will be on this year's list.

Shortly before Dell went private, it reported that for the first six months of the fiscal year (ended Aug. 2) the company's sales were $28.6 billion, down 1 percent from the same six-month period the prior year.

Intel

CEO: Brian Krzanich

Intel was No. 54 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $53.3 billion.

Intel reported revenue of $52.7 billion for fiscal 2013, down more than 1 percent from the previous year. So don't look for the chip manufacturer to move up the Fortune 500 list in 2014. Google is likely to surpass Intel and others will gain ground.

Google

CEO: Larry Page

Search engine giant Google was No. 55 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $52.2 billion.

Google reported revenue of $59.8 billion for fiscal 2013 (including revenue from Motorola Mobility, which Google is selling to Lenovo for $2.91 billion). The company's rapid growth should be enough to move the company past Intel. But can it break into the ranks of the 50 largest companies in the U.S. for the first time?

Cisco Systems

CEO: John Chambers

Cisco Systems was No. 60 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $46.1 billion.

For fiscal 2013, Cisco reported revenue growth of 5.5 percent to $48.6 billion. That won't be enough to catch Google, but the networking equipment manufacturer could move up the Fortune 500 ranking a notch or two.

Ingram Micro

CEO: Alain Monie

Distributor Ingram Micro was No. 76 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $37.8 billion.

Ingram Micro reported that revenue grew 12.5 percent in fiscal 2013 to $42.6 billion. That's impressive, and the company should move up the overall list. But among IT companies it won't be enough to catch Cisco.

Oracle

CEO: Larry Ellison

Oracle was No. 80 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $37.1 billion.

The company's fiscal 2013 revenue of just under $37.2 billion was essentially flat from the previous year. How will that lack of significant growth affect the company's Fortune 500 rank?

Sprint Corp.

CEO: Daniel Hesse

Telecommunications services company Sprint Nextel was No. 87 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $35.3 billion.

Last year, Sprint dropped the "Nextel" from its name after Tokyo-based SoftBank Corp. acquired majority ownership (about 80 percent) of the company. The company's fiscal 2013 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recorded the company's sales before and after the July 10 acquisition, which total $35.5 billion for the entire fiscal year.

Avnet

CEO: Rick Hamada

Distributor Avnet was No. 117 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $25.7 billion.

Avnet reported revenue of less than $25.5 billion for fiscal 2013, down almost 1 percent from the previous year, so it's unlikely the company will be moving up in this year's Fortune 500 ranking. Last year, the company was just two spots ahead of fellow distributor Tech Data. Can it stay ahead?

Tech Data

CEO: Robert Dutkowsky

Distributor Tech Data was No. 119 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2013 (ended Jan. 31) revenue of $25.4 billion.

For fiscal 2014 (ended Jan. 31) Tech Data reported revenue of $26.8 billion. That growth of almost 6 percent should help the distributor move up a few notches on this year's Fortune 500 list and likely surpass fellow distributor Avnet.

Emerson Electric

CEO: David Farr

Emerson Electric was No. 123 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $24.5 billion.

For fiscal 2013, Emerson reported sales of $24.7 billion, up 1 percent.

Xerox

CEO: Ursula Burns

Xerox was No. 131 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $22.4 billion.

For fiscal 2013, Xerox reported sales of $21.4 billion. So the company will be hard-pressed to avoid slipping down this year's Fortune 500 rankings.

EMC

CEO: Joseph Tucci

EMC was No. 133 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $21.7 billion.

For fiscal 2013, EMC recorded sales of $23.2 billion, up almost 7 percent from the prior year. That could be enough to move the company up a spot or two on the overall rankings and should allow the company to surpass Xerox.

Arrow Electronics

CEO: Michael Long

Distributor Arrow Electronics was No. 141 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $20.4.

In fiscal 2013, Arrow racked up total revenue of $21.4 billion, up almost 5 percent year-over-year. Given that last year's list had seven companies between Arrow's position and its 2013 revenue, we're betting Arrow should move up a few spots. But it probably won't surpass any other IT vendors.

Qualcomm

CEO: Steven Mollenkopf

Qualcomm, manufacturer of chipsets, modems and other electronics products, was No. 149 on the 2013 Fortune 500 list with fiscal 2012 revenue of $19.1 billion.

For fiscal 2013, Qualcomm reported revenue of $24.9 billion, up an impressive 30 percent year-over-year. That should boost the company quite a ways up the Fortune 500 list, likely surpassing EMC, Xerox and several other IT companies along the way.

CenturyLink

CEO: Glen Post

CenturyLink was No. 150 on the 2013 Fortune 500 with fiscal 2012 revenue of $18.4 billion.

Don't count on the telecommunications company moving up on this year's list. Revenue for fiscal 2013 was just shy of $18.1 billion, down 1.5 percent from the previous year.

Computer Sciences Corp.

CEO: Mike Lawrie

CSC was No. 176 on the 2013 Fortune 500 with $15.9 billion in fiscal 2012 sales.

CSC, No. 5 on CRN's 2013 Solution Provider 500 list, has been divesting itself of businesses it considers to be noncore to the company. The result was a smaller revenue figure, just shy of $15.0 billion. While slimming down may improve the company's profitability, it won't help it climb up the Fortune 500 list.

Texas Instruments

CEO: Rich Templeton

Texas Instruments was No. 218 on the 2013 Fortune 500 with revenue of $12.8 billion in fiscal 2012.

For fiscal 2013, TI reported sales of $12.2 billion, down almost 5 percent from the previous year. With numbers like that, it's possible TI might not even be among the 25 biggest IT companies on the 2014 ranking.