Mittelstand - the real strength of Germany
Mid-sized companies
Large sized companies are important for an economy but mid-sized companies are even more. This is particularly true for Germany. It has the highest number of mid-sized companies (commonly called as Mittelstand), and they are the backbone of its economy.
Many of these Mittelstand companies have strong businesses models and are unknown. For example, a company named Flexi has 70% of the global market share for retractable dog leads; Poeschl Tabak Gmbh has 50% of the world market share in snuff; Herrenknecht AG is the one of the world’s biggest tunnelling company; Scio Automation GmbH specialises in high-end robotics and industrial automation. Waifs AG is a small niche company which specialises in creating machines that bend wires and pipes into desired shapes; and the list is quite long - more than 1,000 such great companies.
Source: Herrenknecht AG tunnelling machine
Secret world market leaders: who has how many?
A Germany institution has published a report on the success and trends in Mittelstand along with comparison with companies in other countries.
After Germany, the other countries which have a strong middle-sized companies are:
United States
Japan
Austria
Switzerland
France
Italy
China; and
United Kingdom