Apple pips Microsoft as world's biggest

May 31, 2010

Apple shot past Microsoft as the world's biggest tech company based on market value in overnight trade in the US - the latest milestone in the resurgence of the maker of the iPhone, which nearly went out of business in the 1990s.

Apple's shares rose as much 2.8 per cent on Nasdaq on Wednesday, as Microsoft shares floundered, briefly pushing its market value above $US229 billion ($281 billion), ahead of its longtime rival.

Both stocks ended down after a late-day sell-off, but Apple emerged ahead with a market value of about $US222 billion, compared with Microsoft's $219 billion, according to Reuters data.

Apple shares closed down 0.4 per cent at $US244.11 on Nasdaq, while Microsoft fell 4 per cent to a seven-month low of $US25.01.

Shares of Apple are worth more than 10 times what they were 10 years ago, as it has profited from revolutionizing consumer electronics with its stylish, easy to use products such as the iPod, iPhone and MacBook laptops.

The last time Apple had a higher market value than Microsoft was December 19, 1989, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

Microsoft, whose operating system runs on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers, has not been able to match growth rates from its hey-day 1990s. Its stock is down 20 per cent from 10 years ago.

Apple, which struggled for many years to get its products into the mainstream, resorted to a $US150 million investment from the much larger Microsoft in 1997 in order to keep it afloat. At that time, Microsoft's market value was more than five times that of Apple.

Microsoft still leads Apple in sales. In the latest quarter, Microsoft reported $US14.5 billion in revenue compared with Apple's $US13.5 billion.

Cupertino, California-based Apple is now the second-largest company on the Standard & Poor's 500 index by market value, behind energy behemoth Exxon Mobil Corp.