Nice visualisation, but what's the value in this? Symantec's a "global innovator" (really? I'm skeptical, but am I missing something?) And splitting companies into "electronic components" and "computer hardware" seems dubious too, since there's presumably a lot of overlap.
You should blame Thomson Reuter's report for that, as I understand it, this page is an attempt to make a boring ranking (http://top100innovators.com/ ) into a sexier and more meaningful visualization.
It isn't even a nice visualization. You have to hover over a ball to find out the company? An old fashioned list that can be grouped by country or industry would communicate the information much faster.
