Economy of the United States Corporation, Apple Inc., Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, and Cardinal Health. In 2013, eight of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization were American: Apple Inc., ExxonMobil, Berkshire Hathaway, Walmart, General Electric, Microsoft, IBM, and Chevron Corporation. According to Fortune Global 500 2011, the ten largest U.S. employers were Walmart, U.S. Postal Service, IBM, UPS, McDonald's, Target Corporation, Kroger, The Home Depot, General Electric, and Sears Holdings. Apple, Google, IBM, McDonald's, and Microsoft are the world's five most valuable brands in an index published by Millward Brown. A 2012 Deloitte report published in "STORES" magazine indicated that of the world's top
Microsoft the company's entry into the cloud computing market for Windows, launched on October 27, 2008. On February 12, 2009, Microsoft announced its intent to open a chain of Microsoft-branded retail stores, and on October 22, 2009, the first retail Microsoft Store opened in Scottsdale, Arizona; the same day Windows 7 was officially released to the public. Windows 7's focus was on refining Vista with ease of use features and performance enhancements, rather than a large reworking of Windows. As the smartphone industry boomed in 2007, Microsoft had struggled to keep up with its rivals Apple and Google in providing a