Apple passes Microsoft to become biggest tech company

Ina Fried CNET News | May 27, 2010 4:50 AM PDT

Summary

Apple has passed Microsoft in terms of market capitalization, with a value of roughly $222 billion, about $3 billion ahead of Microsoft.

Topics

Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Balance Sheets, Investment, Financial Services, Financial Statements, Financial Accounting, Finance

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Apple has passed Microsoft in terms of market capitalization, with a value of roughly $222 billion, about $3 billion ahead of Microsoft, as of trading near the end of the day on Wednesday.

Apple had been flirting with the milestone for days and had already passed Microsoft by another measure — a valuation known as enterprise value, which adds in debt and other factors.

As for Microsoft, the company remains highly profitable, but investors and analysts alike are concerned that Microsoft remains dependent on its Office and Windows franchises for the lion's share of its profits. The company has poured billions into its mobile phone, online advertising and other new businesses that have yet to really help the company's balance sheet.

For more on this story, see Apple passes Microsoft in valuation on CNET News.

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RE: Apple passes Microsoft to become biggest tech company

bmonsterman 28th May 2010

I never understood the apples to apples (forgive the pun) comparison between Apple and Microsoft. They really only compete with each other with a few of product lines. Microsoft was never focused on the mobile OS. Their core competency outside of the desktop and server OS, continues to be business software. It's something that they have done very well with. Apple more of a consumer electronics company. It has obviously allowed them to be very successful. Kudos to ANY American company that can continue to dominate in the global economy.

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Microsoft is highly profitable, but flat in growth

frgough 27th May 2010

and this is what has investors concerned. MS is a good place to store your money, not grow it.

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Is MS more profitable than Apple?

NonZealot 27th May 2010

@frgough
And if so, is profitability what "counts" or is market cap what "counts"? Please, we need to know because this has a huge effect on which products we are "supposed" to buy!!!

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Pwned

HollywoodDog 27th May 2010

Microsoft Fail.

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And the gap will only get wider if they keep dumping money on market losers

OS Reload 27th May 2010

The sooner Microsoft drops Windows Phone 7 and Bing the higher their chances will be to be still around by year 2020.

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They have a 100 percent chance of being here in 2020

John Zern 27th May 2010

with those products. But then again, they'll be many a Linux company that'll be gone by 2012, that's a certainty!

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We will see about that. I mean about the title of your post, of course.

OS Reload Updated - 27th May 2010

@John Zern

I'm pretty sure many Linux distros will be gone and many more new ones will be around by 2020, that's the pain of growth.

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Oops. Wrong tab.

OS Reload Updated - 27th May 2010

This was meant to be posted on a different article, sorry.

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So what has changed?

NonZealot 27th May 2010

What a historic day! Seriously, congrats Apple on being the biggest, baddest, meanest tech company and congrats on MS for now becoming the cute, cuddly, underdog that everyone must now cheer for.

But has anything really changed? Is the iPad you loved / hated so much yesterday better / worse today because of the market cap of the company that made it? Is the OS you worship / revile going to crash less / more?

Once again, congratulations Apple on taking the $150 million that MS bailed you out with and turning the entire company around. Now... if you could only work on actually creating something innovative, I'd be even more impressed!

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We should take it easy on the Softies

HollywoodDog 27th May 2010

and their partisans. The world as they've known it for decades is slipping away. There will be no turnaround, no restoration of the glory days. We should have a little compassion for them and make sure to let them know that this was always business, not personal.