This Microsoft reign just won't end! On Friday, Apple's arch rival Microsoft surpassed iPhone maker's market cap to become the world's most valuable public company.
When market was coming to a close on Friday, Microsoft's market cap stood at $2.49 trillion while Apple's market capitalisation stood at $2.46 trillion, as reported by CNBC.
Reuters
Apple's throne always in danger
Microsoft has surpassed Apple's market cap in previous instances as well. For the first time since 2010, Microsoft passed Apple's market cap in 2018 and later in July 2020.
Google's parent company Alphabet has also surpassed Apple's market cap, first in 2016. Even in the face of market fluctuations, the growth of Apple has remained uninterrupted. In 2018, the iPhone-maker became the first US company to touch $1 trillion market cap. Following up on this achievement, Apple also became the first American company to hit #2 trillion market cap in 2020.
Microsoft
Also read:India Loves iPhone? Tim Cook Says Apple Doubled Its India Business This Year
In fact, we're convinced that Apple will retake the crown of world's most valuable company from Microsoft in the near future.
Apple vs Microsoft: A never-ending war
Apple and Microsoft compete directly in a range of markets for products such as computer systems and OS, only with different approaches. Windows is Microsoft's most-used product. Apple's beloved Mac systems directly compete with Microsoft's self-made Surface laptops as well as with third-party laptops based on Windows OS.
Also read:Apple's Selling New 'Polishing Cloth' For $19, And Twitter Has No Chill
For a short while, Microsoft also experimented with smartphones "Windows Phone" to compete with Apple's iPhone. Eventually, they realised it wasn't going to work out in their favour and phased out the entire smartphone ecosystem.
Forbes
With the massive success of virtually every iPhone series, Apple's position at the market leader isn't dissipating anytime soon.
What do you think about Microsoft's takeover of Apple's top market spot? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
Bharat Sharma
I live for all-things-technology - gadgets, novel climate solutions, and startups that are changing the game. In my leisurely hours, you can find me binge watching science fiction films, writing poetry, or dancing to pop anthems.
FAQs
Under the leadership of Satya Nadella, the company surpassed Apple as its market valuation reached $2.87 trillion. This marks the latest instance of Microsoft surpassing Apple, with similar occurrences in 2018 and 2021. Microsoft's market capitalization slightly edged past that of Apple on this occasion.
Did Microsoft overtake Apple to become the world's most valuable company? ›
Microsoft beats Apple as most valuable company for first time in two years. Microsoft's stock market value ended a trading session higher than that of Apple's for the first time since 2021 on Friday, making it the world's most valuable company as worries about demand hit the iPhone maker's shares.
Who is more valuable Apple or Microsoft? ›
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently overtook Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) as the world's most valuable company. As of this writing, Microsoft's market cap has reached $2.89 trillion and remains higher than Apple's market cap of $2.87 trillion.
How did Microsoft become most valuable company? ›
Thanks to rapid growth and strong profits from the intelligent cloud segment, the software giant tops the list of the world's most valuable companies.
Who won the Apple vs. Microsoft lawsuit? ›
How did the court rule in the Apple vs. Microsoft copyright case? In 1992, the court ruled in favor of Microsoft. The court found that most of the GUI elements that Apple claimed were infringed upon were not protected by their copyrights.
Why did Microsoft overtake Apple? ›
Microsoft overtook Apple to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company for the first time in more than two years, as worries over smartphone demand have weighed on the iPhone-maker's stock in recent weeks.
Why is Microsoft more valuable than Apple? ›
“When you compare and contrast the two, the growth Apple is showing is nothing special, whereas Microsoft has done a better job of executing and demonstrating earnings growth,” said David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors, which has positions in both.
What is the world's most valuable company? ›
How much of Microsoft does Bill Gates own? ›
Key Takeaways. Institutional investors are the majority owners of Microsoft, accounting for almost 70% of outstanding shares. Former CEO Steve Ballmer owns a 4% stake in Microsoft, more than its founder Bill Gates, who holds a 1.3% stake. Vanguard and Blackrock are the two largest Microsoft's institutional investors.
How much is Apple worth in 2024? ›
As of April 2024 Apple has a market cap of $2.614 Trillion. This makes Apple the world's second most valuable company by market cap according to our data.
A History of the Battle for Market Cap Dominance
| Market cap (USD) | Apple | Microsoft |
|---|
| 2023 | $2.994 T | $2.794 T |
| 2022 | $2.066 T | $1.787 T |
| 2021 | $2.901 T | $2.522 T |
| 2020 | $2.255 T | $1.681 T |
19 more rowsJan 26, 2024
At the peak, Nvidia was less than 9% away from surpassing Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) in market cap. By close, it was a little over 20% away. Given Nvidia's big swings, it seems like the stock could very well surpass Apple to become the second most valuable "Magnificent Seven" stock behind Microsoft.
Did Apple borrow money from Microsoft? ›
The show of friendship between rivals Bill Gates and Steve Jobs shocked the tech and business communities. On August 6, 1997, Microsoft's Bill Gate invested $150 million in Apple which was in the brink of bankruptcy. Following the deal, Steve Jobs told Gates, “Bill, thank you.
Why did the US sue Microsoft? ›
The U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally monopolizing the web browser market for Windows, primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape and Java.
Who took over for Bill Gates at Microsoft? ›
Steve Ballmer became Microsoft's second CEO, succeeding Bill Gates, who hired him in 1980 as the company's first business manager. Soon after, Ballmer helped land a major deal with IBM to provide the operating system for its computers.
Has Microsoft surpassed Apple? ›
Microsoft has surpassed Apple's market cap to become the world's most valuable public company again.
Did Microsoft become the world's most valuable stock as Apple drops? ›
Microsoft (MSFT) on Thursday briefly overtook Apple's (AAPL) market capitalization, making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. The software giant took the top spot just after the start of trading, hitting north of $2.8 trillion.
When did Microsoft overtake the Apple market cap? ›
Microsoft briefly surpassed Apple's market cap in 2021 due to supply chain constraints. In 2020, Microsoft overtook Apple as the pandemic affected supply chains. In 2018, Microsoft briefly surpassed Apple's market cap. In 2016, Google's parent company Alphabet became the world's most valuable company.
Is Microsoft now the world's most valuable company? ›
The rise of the cloud and artificial intelligence has given Microsoft an edge over rival Apple. Earlier this year, Microsoft briefly took Apple's crown as the world's most valuable company. Note: E=estimate; estimates for calendar 2024.
Reuters
Microsoft
