Apple world’s most valuable company

Added by Gary Dunn on August 20, 2012

Apple became the world’s most valuable company on Monday with its market value surpassing US$620 billion – eclipsing Exxon Mobil – the previous record holder.

Microsoft set the record for the most valuable company in 1999 at US$618 billion – adjusted for inflation. Apple briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil in 2011, yet now holds the record for the world’s most valuable company.

Apple’s shares closed up 2.63% at US$665.15 on volume of 21m traded shares, valuing the company at US$623.52 billion.

Industry insiders say Apple’s shares have historically rallied as rumours of an imminent product launch circulate and become more broadly accepted. Analysts expect Apple to release a larger version of its iPhone on September 12 followed by a possible announcement of a smaller, more affordable, version of its popular iPad. iPhone makes up at least 50% of the company’s annual sales.

Competitors like Google and Amazon recently introduced smaller and less expensive 7-inch tablet computers and readers, possibly leading Apple to develop a smaller version of its iPad to maintain its market share of the tablet computer market. Apple shipped about 17m iPads, capturing almost 70% of the world wide tablet computer market, followed by Samsung which has 9.2% of the overall market.

Apple Inc was established in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The company issued its initial public offering (IPO) in 1980 and surpassed the IPO of the Ford Motor Company which set a record in 1956. Apple launched its Macintosh line of computers in 1984 and achieved wide-spread success with the iPhone, iPod, and iPad products. Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011 aged 56.