Apple becomes most valuable firm of all time

Merlin5 · 21 Aug 2012 at 03:53

Apple has become the most valuable company of all time – surpassing a record set by Microsoft in 1999.

Shares in the tech giant hit a high of $664.75 in Monday morning trading, valuing the company at over $619bn. The price topped the $618.9bn Microsoft achieved in December 1999.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/20/apple-most-valuable-firm-facebook?newsfeed=true

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/20/us-apple-valuation-market-record-idUKBRE87J0KM20120820

Van Hellseek · 21 Aug 2012 at 03:54

Just a shame their products are all design over usefulness.

Merlin5 · 21 Aug 2012 at 03:57

Good company to buy into though. I might be able to afford buying half of one share.

Number_25 · 21 Aug 2012 at 03:57

Good for them.

K1LLSW1TCH · 21 Aug 2012 at 03:58

*Insert typical OcUK anti-Apple remark here*

starfighter · 21 Aug 2012 at 04:04

Shows how much they are ripping people off with their overpriced inferior products.

OhEsEcks · 21 Aug 2012 at 04:30

Huuuur!

Too expensive!
Only idiots use them!
NO RIGHT CLICK!
It's not real unix!
Form over function!
Slave labour!
Hipster as ****!

valkynaz · 21 Aug 2012 at 04:48

If you taken into account the inflation since 1999, the valuation of Microsoft back then would be $851M now.

StriderX · 21 Aug 2012 at 06:32

Well this certainly wont last for long, there are murmurs of dissent amongst the Apple fans.

The death of Jobs, may as well be the death of Apple to some.

/Just saying

bam0 · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:19

Merlin5 said:
Good company to buy into though. I might be able to afford buying half of one share.

Really though, how much higher do you think they'll go? In percentage terms there's probably not a lot to be made on their shares.

mat1110 · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:20

OhEsEcks said:
Huuuur!

Too expensive!
Only idiots use them!
NO RIGHT CLICK!
It's not real unix!
Form over function!
Slave labour!
Hipster as ****!

Had right click for past 2 years i used one

slagsmal · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:22

Now they are saying on the radio that its not.

With inflation in account, IBM remains the historic winner with a 1967 value of $1.3 trillion.

Ricochet J · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:43

Van Hellseek said:
Just a shame their products are all design over usefulness.

Not that I'm an Apple fanboy (heck I own nothing that's made from Apple) but people want something stylish which looks amazing. A vast majority of people who I know who have dual/quad core Intel Macbooks and 8gb RAM etc just use it for word processing and the internet. For them that usefulness is the same as any other Acer/Dell/Panasonic etc laptop will provide, but the added bonus that it looks good.

Ditto MP3 players, iPads, and anything else that they produce.

Robbo · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:48

Impressive stuff, they've dominated and controlled the mobile device market exceptionally well, and are continuing to do so.

Some people like to slate them, but you can't deny their products satisfy most people's needs.

vincent1989 · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:50

I've owned a few apple products over the years and while they've been nice they're absolutely form over function, it's just a massive shame, in my opinion, that what is endemic in society is a love of expensive, well packaged tat where in reality something 1/4 of the price is just as good if not better!

Ricochet J · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:56

Robbo said:
Impressive stuff, they've dominated and controlled the mobile device market exceptionally well, and are continuing to do so.

Some people like to slate them, but you can't deny their products satisfy most people's needs.

Exactly my point. Most people want to phone people and play Angry Birds - iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Most people want to go on the internet and word process - iPad and Laptop.

People including me slate their products because they don't seem to capture what enthusiasts like me want. But who cares, people like are a small % of their market and they have captured what a majority of people want, and it's something stylish.

Theophany · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:57

valkynaz said:
If you taken into account the inflation since 1999, the valuation of Microsoft back then would be $851M now.

****smal said:
With inflation in account, IBM remains the historic winner with a 1967 value of $1.3 trillion.

I'm not really sure why people are trying to calculate inflation into the equation, doesn't seem in the slightest bit relevant to me.

Much the same as Apple's market cap is fairly irrelevant to the company's actual value. Valued at $620b... with over $100bn in cash reserves...

Ricochet J · 21 Aug 2012 at 07:58

Theophany said:
I'm not really sure why people are trying to calculate inflation into the equation, doesn't seem in the slightest bit relevant to me.

Really?

Robbo · 21 Aug 2012 at 08:00

Ricochet J said:
Exactly my point. Most people want to phone people and play Angry Birds - iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Most people want to go on the internet and word process - iPad and Laptop.

People including me slate their products because they don't seem to capture what enthusiasts like me want. But who cares, people like are a small % of their market and they have captured what a majority of people want, and it's something stylish.

Precisely, and there are great alternatives anyway for people who have more specific/advanced requirements, so I genuinely don't understand the hatred aimed at them.

They would be insane to change their whole ethos just to satisfy a small group of people.

Efour · 21 Aug 2012 at 08:01

They are only stylish because you have been told its stylish so many times you buy into it and want a little bit of that perceived style to rub off onto you and your humdrum mundane lifestyle.

its a hell of an achievement though.