# What industries are there no small/obscure players? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944 "2013-12-22T09:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/1 "2013-12-22T09:03:55Z")
I was quite surprised to discover there are now only 3 hard drive manufacturers (Western Digital, Seagate & Toshiba) who make every single magnetic hard drive in the world (down from 10 in 2000). Usually with most industries, once you move past the couple of big players, you can always find a couple of niche companies that fill up the rest of the market. For example, x86 CPUs are dominated by Intel and AMD but there’s also quirky like [Via](http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/) in the corner, doing it’s own thing. Desktop graphics cards are dominated by nVidia, AMD & Intel but then there’s also [S3](http://www.s3graphics.com/en/products/class1.aspx?seriesTypeId=1) and [Matrox](http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/graphics_cards/) who apparently are still making cards. Commercial airlines are dominated by Boeing and Airbus but there’s a bunch of smaller manufacturers like Embraer, Bombadier, Fokker, Iluyshin, Sukhoi etc. What are other industries in which there is not a single small player in the market once you move past the few big players? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/2 "2013-12-22T10:15:26Z")
Apparently Hitachi also still makes hard drives. Anyway, Harddrives are being replaced by SSD’s and there is still many many companies making SSD’s: > **[List of solid-state drive manufacturers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solid-state_drive_manufacturers)** > > This is the list of manufacturers of solid-state drives (SSDs) for computers and other electronic devices that require data storage. In the list those manufacturers that also produce hard disk drives or flash memory are identified. Additionally, the type of memory used in their solid-state drives is noted. This list does not include the manufacturers of specific components of SSDs, such as flash memory controllers. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/3 "2013-12-22T10:27:16Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Apparently Hitachi also still makes hard drives. > > Anyway, Harddrives are being replaced by SSD’s and there is still many many companies making SSD’s: > > [List of solid-state drive manufacturers - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solid-state_drive_manufacturers) Hitachi was acquired by Western Digital in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/4 "2013-12-22T10:51:50Z")
Large (\>200 MW) gas turbines for power generation are all (as far as I know) made by 5 companies (1 US, 1 Japanese, 1 Swiss/French, 1 German and 1 Italian). But the Italian one is much smaller and manufactures under licence to one of the others, so it might qualify as a “niche player” per your criteria. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/5 "2013-12-22T10:52:22Z")
Oil. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/6 "2013-12-22T11:28:48Z")
Every industry has its small players filling a niche market. IBM still makes CPU’s, but not really for your normal home PC or laptop. Most of the times, they are just not known to the general public, unless you work in that industry. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/7 "2013-12-22T11:32:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Oil. Try Goggling “Israel Oil Ventures” you’ll find plenty of niche companies there. . . ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/8 "2013-12-22T11:37:47Z")
Large commercial airliners. There are just 2 left, Boeing and Airbus. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/9 "2013-12-22T12:36:45Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > Every industry has its small players filling a niche market. > > Most of the times, they are just not known to the general public, unless you work in that industry. At least one industry does not which is magnetic hard drives. I grant that it’s unusual which is why I’m asking this question. > [@racer72](#): > > Large commercial airliners. There are just 2 left, Boeing and Airbus. The [Ilyushin Il-96](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-96) is a wide body airplane that can seat up to 436 passengers, similar to a Boeing 767/777. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/10 "2013-12-22T12:51:50Z")
Wow graphics cards and airplane companies, you already thought of all my suggestions. What about escalator/elevator companies? I think I heard there were only a few big ones left. From [List of elevator and escalator companies | Elevator Wiki | Fandom](http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Elevator_and_Escalator_Brands) it looks like there’s only Otis, Schindler, ThyssenKrupp, Kone, Mitsubishi and Fujitec. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/11 "2013-12-22T13:03:38Z")
Schindler’s Lifts 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/12 "2013-12-22T15:52:25Z")
Looks like we’re down to four manufacturers of plasma panels. Panasonic is said to be abandoning that technology in March, leaving just NEC, Pioneer, LG and Samsung. Everyone else buys their panels from these four. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/13 "2013-12-22T16:00:26Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Oil. There’s quite a number of state-run or semi-public oil companies in the world, which may monopolise crude oil production in their countries and may be large in absolute terms but are not big enough on a global scale to be counted as one of the few really, really big players worldwide. Petrobras, Petronas or OMV are just a few examples. On top of that, I’m pretty sure there are privately owned oil companies active beyond the few big players such as Exxon or Royal Dutch Shell. Oil is surely not an example for what the OP is thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/14 "2013-12-22T16:26:03Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > What are other industries in which there is not a single small player in the market once you move past the few big players? There are of course many very-small food product makers, but if you were to leave only the products made by the big three food congloms on the shelves… your local grocery store wouldn’t change much. If you reduced it to Kraft and FritoLay alone, you’d probably no more than wonder why the shelf stockers were being so lax. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/15 "2013-12-22T19:56:17Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > What about escalator/elevator companies? I think I heard there were only a few big ones left. From [List of elevator and escalator companies | Elevator Wiki | Fandom](http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Elevator_and_Escalator_Brands) it looks like there’s only Otis, Schindler, ThyssenKrupp, Kone, Mitsubishi and Fujitec. From your own cite, there’s also [Kleeman](http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/Kleemann), [Elevator Services Co.](http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/Elevator_Service_Co.) & [Pickerings](http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/Pickerings_Lifts). ---
**Author:** ![oz0ne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc348/32.png) [@oz0ne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oz0ne)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/16 "2013-12-22T20:01:56Z")
North American diesel-electric freight and passenger locomotives: General Electric and EMD (General Motors). ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/17 "2013-12-22T20:18:24Z")
Look at your zipper. Does it have anything but “YKK” stamped on it? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/18 "2013-12-22T20:25:02Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > There’s quite a number of state-run or semi-public oil companies in the world, which may monopolise crude oil production in their countries and may be large in absolute terms but are not big enough on a global scale to be counted as one of the few really, really big players worldwide. Petrobras, Petronas or OMV are just a few examples. On top of that, I’m pretty sure there are privately owned oil companies active beyond the few big players such as Exxon or Royal Dutch Shell. Oil is surely not an example for what the OP is thinking of. Even in the US, you’ve got small private companies like Sinclair Oil (green dinosaur.) It owns a couple of refineries and a couple thousand miles of pipeline. It is mostly noticeable in the Northern Mountain States, but has retail operations in pretty much every state west of the Mississippi. [https://www.sinclairoil.com/station\_locator-c.asp](https://www.sinclairoil.com/station_locator-c.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/19 "2013-12-22T20:36:17Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Look at your zipper. Does it have anything but “YKK” stamped on it? > [@](#): > > Today Talon and Optilon each have about a 7% or 8% share of the world market to YKK’s 45%. Much of the rest is in the hands of what YKK estimates to be more than 1,000 Chinese companies. [source](http://www.forbes.com/global/2003/1124/089.html) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944/20 "2013-12-22T20:37:43Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Look at your zipper. Does it have anything but “YKK” stamped on it? Well, in fact there’s a chance that it might say “Talon” on it. And I just looked at a couple pairs of my pants, they said “DLN” on them. From wiki: > [@](#): > > Forbes reported in 2003 that although the zipper market in the 1960s was dominated by Talon Zipper (USA) and Optilon (Germany)), Japanese manufacturer YKK Group grew to become the industry giant by the 1980s. YKK held 45% of the world market share, followed by Optilon (8%) and Talon Zipper (7%). Note that those three only add up to 60%, though I’ll concede that YKK’s share may have gotten larger since 2003. DLN turns out to be a trademark for zippers made by JoeLee Corporation, a South Korean company. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-industries-are-there-no-small-obscure-players/676944.md?page=2)