There's some first mover advantage and some country/language limitations that can bring up costs, but the main reason is actually the easy availability of cash

There's some first mover advantage and some country/language limitations that can bring up costs, but the main reason is actually the easy availability of cash in the US. Successful European companies, especially startups, are bought by US players. Think Skype or Minecraff: successful European startups bought by a US giant (Microsoft). More poignantly, the VC money allows companies to exist that really shouldn't, and they in turn crowd out smaller less-funded competitors that stem from other markets. Think Uber and Lyft - two giant unprofitable startups that exist because of VC investment to burn. Or Bird. Or .. Funny enough, that's the two strategies that US companies/gov complain the Chinese are doing. That said, there are a few big European players, such as on mobile games (king digital), network infrastructure (Nokia), etc. Just not as significant name brand value in the anglophone world.