Apple seen as the best investment in tech

May 28, 2013, 8:15 PM GMT+0

Americans say that Apple, Amazon and Google are the tech companies which will provide the biggest return on investment

As the tech industry continues to expand at breathtaking speed, new research from YouGov shows that Americans are most likely to choose Apple, Amazon and Google as the tech companies which will provide the biggest return in the future.

If given $1000 to buy shares in a tech company with an eye towards getting the largest growth on investment, 17% of Americans would choose Apple, 16% would choose Amazon and 14% would choose Google.

Originally a computer manufacturer, Apple saw enormous expansion on the past decade with its massively succesful iPod, iPhone and iPad over the last decade. Currently the second largest publicly traded company on earth, Apple has seen its stock price decline over the past six months, yet still wins the consumer's vote of confidence.

Amazon, which was the second most chosen overall, is the world's largest online marketplace and has also expanded into tablet computers and cloud computing in recent years. Google, whose products include online search, advertising and mobile software among other things, was most popular among the young with 22% of those 18-29 years old selecting it.

The results reflect the continuing transformation of the tech industry towards mobile and cloud-based technology. Each of the top four companies in the list--Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung--are heavily involved with smart phones and mobile electronics, while companies primarily associated with personal computers--IBM, Dell, HP--were selected as a good investment by far fewer people.

Despite its near ubiquity, social networking website Facebook was selected by only 4% of Americans. This may reflect growing pessimism with the company, following news of declining usership and a stock price which has never returned to its price set during its IPO.