Apple becomes the most valuable company in the world

Powered by game changing devices the iPad and the iPhone, Apple has officially become the most...

17:02 21 August 2012

Powered by game changing devices the iPad and the iPhone, Apple has officially become the most valuable company in the world figures on the New York Stock Exchange have confirmed. 

 

Apple shares rose past $660 in early trading this week, taking stock and market capitalisation to more than $619bn (£394bn).

 

This now places Apple at roughly $200bn more than the world’s second biggest company, Exxon Mobil whose worth is $405bn.

 

The previous record was still held in the technology sector however. Back at the peak of the dot.com bubble, it was Microsoft who led the world's market when their market capitalisation hit €616.3bn in December 1999. 

 

Since then, underdogs Apple have gone to the top. Some finance experts state that Apple is worth more than Microsoft and Google combined thanks to market leading breakthrough technology in the tablet (iPad), online music (iTunes) and mobile phone (iPhone) sectors.

 

However, if you take into account inflation it's computing giant IBM that still rules over the financial world with a 1967 value of $1.3 trillion, according to technology website Techcrunch.

 

With the iPod, iPad and iPhone devices all getting regular updates and demand often exceeding supply. Apple are the 'in' company of this generation, but some analysts believe that the only way is down.

 

Speaking to The Telegraph, Van Baker, vice president of Gartner Research, said: “All the products made under [Apple chief executive] Tim Cook’s tenure have been tweaks to existing products. One of the companies’ big successes, the iPod line, is in decline and they are going to have to replace that.”