Shaddows - 9:51 am on Dec 4, 2008 (gmt 0)

You can say that for a lot of big companies- ... car builders...

Ye and its all working out nicely for them :/

Tobaco is addictive, and is not particularly susceptible to ecomomic down turn. Their revenue is dropping in 'mature' markets (read US and western Europe), but mushrooming in developing markets- Eastern Europe and Africa.

Plane builders can sell to various airlines, and are quite well supported by their parent countries (or econimic blocs for EU examples). It will be interesting who has is right for the future- Airbus with its huge planes, or Boeing with the smaller, less fuel hugry ones.

Google on the other hand only has the single source of revenue, and there are virtually no barriers to entry into its market. Compare that to the manufacturing industries you mention above, where factories have to be built before you can compete