I'd say Germany is leading in "middle tech": mechanical, machinery, industrial equipment and of course cars (although that might soon be disputed).

I grew up and went to university in Germany but spent all my working life in the US, doing a lot of industrial automation, optical engineering and a lot of software. I'm continually amazed how many little bits and pieces we use from Germany: connectors, cabling, enclosures, motors, controllers, encoders, cameras and optics. None of our computing equipment comes from Germany.

We (not myself luckily) also use SAP, which is a different story altogether.

With the exception of the military sector where France and the UK are pretty strong I don't think that's a controversial claim. German industry both in small and middle-sized as well as large firms is still doing well.

Kind of relates to the article as well. Internet infrastructure isn't that important when it comes to Germany's economy. The big four are basically automotive, mechanical engineering, chemical and electrical industries.

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