The 10 most Innovative companies in the World – 2008

10 NINTENDO- After Sony and Microsoft kicked the Mario out of Nintendo's GameCube in the
Video Game War of 2001, the cutest and smallest of the three platform makers needed a new plan.
"Nintendo took a step back from the technology arms race and chose to focus on the fun of playing,
rather than cold tech specs," says Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo of America. The resulting
Wii system, with its intuitive motion-sensitive controller, appealed not only to teen boys but also to
their sisters, moms, and dads. In 2007, Wii outsold both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The
company's stock has more than doubled over the past year. Nintendo's upset is doing more than
attracting new gamers and bruising Sony and Microsoft. Says Sega of America president Simon Jeffery,
"It has opened doors of creativity throughout the video-game business.

9 AMAZON- Without much fanfare, Amazon has more than tripled its revenues since 2002, to
$13 billion. The key: giving customers choices, not just among products, but also between buying from
Amazon directly or from outside vendors on the site. Amazon's new digital offerings -- in e-books,
videos, and music -- present a fresh menu of options. The company's digital music store, launched in
May, already comprises 3 million songs, all compatible with any device and any music software.
Similarly, Unbox allows Amazon customers to rent films and TV shows, and watch them on a variety of
players. In an era of fighting formats and fears of piracy, that's uncommonly ecumenical.

8 ALIBABA- When Alibaba went public last November and raised a stunning $1.5 billion -- the
biggest Internet IPo since Google's -- it also raised eyebrows around the world. But probably not those
of founder Jack Ma, who back in 1999 recognized that China's 42 million small- and medium-size
companies (the vast majority of business in the country) might create some opportunities for e-
commerce. Alibaba provides a point-and-click system for suppliers to get online and connect with
distributors and consumers all over the world. The Chinese version today boasts 16 million users, and
the english version has 9 million. Watch out, eBay.

7 NOKIA- Once a maker of wood products and tires, the Finnish firm has thrived in the wireless
world. Today, Nokia has a 37 percent (and growing) share of the global cell-phone market, more than
twice that of its closest competitor, Motorola. How? A two-tiered design process that identifies global
consumers' "remarkable similarities in what they want and need in their mobile devices," says senior
design manager Rhys Newman, then adds local insight. Bright colors are key to success in India, China,
and the Middle East, "where a phone can show status," he says. Markets with low literacy rates get
phones without written menus. The company's next challenge is to gain momentum in the U.S., where
it has less than 10 percent of the market. It's betting big on the feature-rich N95 smartphone -- and an
anti-Apple strategy of welcoming third-party apps.

6 NIKE - You expect fancy footwear from Nike. But its latest masterstroke is social networking,
online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand
and experience.

5 IDEO - From a CDC childhood obesity campaign to the Acumen Fund's clean water project for
developing countries, the Palo Alto-based design firm didn't shy away from tough clients in 2007. "As
social issues increasingly become business issues," says CEO Tim Brown, "This will be a critical new
direction for design." In addition, the company's cabin and cockpit instrument panel designs for the
Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet won IDEA Gold medals. But it was Ideo's "Keep the Change" campaign for
Bank of America that had perhaps the most impact. Ideo found that boomer women with kids tend to
round up their financial transactions, so they developed a service that rounds up purchases made with
a debit card, then transfers the monetary difference from the customer's checking account to her
savings. In its first year, 2.5 million customers signed up.

4 GE - GE makes our list not on reputation but the strength of its breakthrough products. Among
them: An HD CT scanner that reduces radiation exposure by half; a reengineer of the bestselling CF34
jet engine for the booming Chinese aviation market; a hybrid locomotive that cuts emissions by 50
percent -- evidence that Ecomagination is more than just marketing babble. Coming up, commercially
viable OLED lighting by 2010.

3 FACEBOOK - In 2007, the social-networking leviathan had variously dazzled with its ability to
reinvent the wheel (opening its platform to outside developers) and drove you to cyberpicket due to
its boneheaded missteps (trying to sell advertising by telegraphing its users' every move). But after a
year lived dangerously, Facebook is officially A-list, with a $15 billion valuation to boot, thanks to
Microsoft's $240 million investment. That's nothing to throw a sheep at.

2 APPLE- Careful readers of this magazine may be scratching their heads right now, in light of our
recent cover story laying out the many challenges facing Apple. But the company has had,
indisputably, one hell of a run. In the past year alone, three major new products -- iPhone, iPod Touch,
and Leopard OS -- fueled triple-digit revenue growth. So while analysts forecast a more earthbound
Apple in 2008, it deserves praise. And extra points for style.

1 GOOGLE - Google's worldview sees information as a natural resource, one that should be
mined and and sorted and universally distributed. Information is a necessity, like clean water. That
idea stands at the center of all Google does, unifying what can appear to be wildly disparate projects:
mapping the world, searching the Web on a cell-phone screen, providing an early response system for
epidemics and natural disasters, developing cheap renewable energy. Android, for instance, isn't
simply a universal platform for mobile phone applications. It's a new pipe -- and a far bigger pipe -- to
serve a parched landscape.