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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
UPS

The US is at the forefront of technological innovation

A 45nm process 300mm silicon wafer
America’s information technology companies have become household names around the world. Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

Close cooperation between the US Congress, industrial manufacturers, university research and the military establishment contributed to the United States emergence as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world.

From wearable technology to 3D printing, the US leads the world in high-technology research and development. From nanotechnology to photonics, the US has advanced capability. In other high-tech industries, it’s considered the world leader.

  • Aerospace: The US Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are the two largest consumers of aerospace technology and products. Boeing, United Technologies Corporation and Lockheed Martin are top manufacturers.
  • Artificial intelligence: Apple’s Siri for iPhone, IBM’s Watson, and Xbox One’s Kinect are all examples of some of the systems the US artificial intelligence industry has developed for knowledge, learning and natural language processing.
  • Biotechnology: From agriculture to food production and medicine, the US is home to some of the world’s largest biotechnology companies. Among them are Amgen (Applied Molecular Genetics), Gilead Sciences, Celgene Corporation and Biogen Idec.
  • Information technology: US companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Intel have become household names around the world as leaders in hardware, software, internet, and e-commerce and telecom providers.
  • Semiconductors: More than 50% of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies are American, including Intel Corporation, Qualcom, Micron Technology, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, AMD, Freescale Semiconductor, and NVIDIA.
  • Telecommunications: The world’s second largest global telecommunications company, AT&T, is American, followed closely by Verizon Communications. Other large US telecommunications companies are Cablevision, Level 3 Communications and Windstream.

Though the United States continues to be at the forefront of technological innovation, much of the manufacturing of technology products has moved to countries like China, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. The US imported $79.1bn worth of computer and electronic products in the year ending March 2014, according to statistics from the US Census Bureau.

The high tech industry in the United States is geographically concentrated. California has the greatest share of high tech industries by a fairly wide margin. Other states with significant high tech profiles include Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and, to a lesser extent, Virginia, Illinois and Colorado.

UPS is able to deliver any components and accessories to any company in the US high tech industry, no matter where it’s located. For those wishing to distribute their own products in the US market, we offer outsourced logistics with inventory held at central stocking locations that replenish field stocking locations close to your customers. This allows us to efficiently meet the same-day or next-business-day commitments to your customers.

We also offer a full service parts logistics service that uses specially developed technology to monitor stockholding of spare parts. For high-value replacements, rely on UPS Returns Exchange; we’ll deliver the needed part and pick up the return shipment at the same time. Or you can tap our service parts logistics expertise to screen, test, and diagnose critical parts to determine their viability. Depot and field repairs are also possible.

UPS Returns Exchange

High tech solutions for product returns and replacements.

UPS Service Parts Solutions

Reduce turnaround time for electronic repairs and returns.

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Content on this page is paid for and provided by UPS, sponsor of the Exporting to New Markets hub on the Small Business Network

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