Orange County Ranks Second in the Nation in the Number of High-Tech Clusters
When it comes to the diversity of companies headquartered in Orange County, it reads like a who’s who of the High Tech industry. Software companies Blizzard Entertainment, Sage North America and Quest Software. Computer products companies Western Digital Corporation and Toshiba America Information Systems and Kingston Technology. Chipmakers Broadcom, Mircrosemi, Conexant Systems and Mindspeed Technologies. Contract electronic makers Express Manufacturing, TTM Technologies and DDI Corp. Orange County is also home to flat panel tv manufacturer Vizio.
In fact, Orange County has a more diverse technology sector than many U.S. states with well known high tech centers. When compared to several states including Massachusetts, Washington and Texas, Orange County was the second most diverse with 16 out of 22 high tech industries having higher employment concentration than the national average.
Orange County’s diverse high tech industry is matched by its amazing growth. According to Deloitte Tech 500, in 14 OC based technology companies were among the fastest growing tech firms in North America, all with more than 100% revenue growth in the past year.
Helping to fuel Orange County’s high-tech prowess is the continuing increase in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) related degrees conferred by Orange County universities. Over the last five years, the number of STEM-related undergraduate degrees granted by local universities increased by 25%. In 2011/12, 17% of all undergraduate degrees were STEM-related. On the graduate level, in 2011/12, 23% of all graduate degrees were STEM-related marking a 30% increase over the last five years.
For more on Orange County’s High-Tech industry, read OC Metro Magazine’s article “Silicon South”.
