microsoft-vs-apple

Apple's iPad and iPhone continue to drive the company's value north while Wintel has struggled to keep pace.

Apple’s meteoric rise over the past decade is not exactly a well-kept secret. But a new report gives a fresh perspective on just how high Apple has risen. Consider that according to some number crunching carried out by MacDailyNews Apple’s worth now exceeds Microsoft and Intel (a duo known as Wintel) combined.

According to the report, which was compiled on Friday after stock markets had closed, the value of the Cupertino, California-based Apple stands at $317.60 billion. Microsoft’s value was put at $201.59 billion and Intel’s value at $115.21 billion. Add those latter two figures up and Wintel’s value is $316.80 billion — just under a billion short of Apple’s assessed worth. Just over one year ago, Apple made news when it first eclipsed Microsoft’s “enterprise value.”

Microsoft and Intel, of course, are still far and away the companies of choice when it comes to desktop computing hardware and operating systems. And that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Apple’s share of the PC market currently is around 7.4 percent and Wintel’s combined share is at around 92.6 percent.

So while Apple may not be dominating the traditional PC market, its iPad and iPhone have made tremendous progress in transforming the ideal of a “personal computer” into a device that is highly integrated, mobile and, to many, increasingly indispensable. That shift towards a more mobile computing environment doesn’t look to be a fad either. Apple’s success is almost guranteed to continue into the near future. However, the question remains if Apple’s gains will come at Microsoft’s and Intel’s expense.

Showing 8 comments

  1. Anirudh Rı at 11:40pm 6th June 2011 die apple die!
  2. Chris Johnson at 11:18pm 6th June 2011 Okay, this is a bad article - it has nothing to do with DT but the source it came from.The market capitalization of Apple is higher because it's taking Apple's price per share and multiplying it by the number of shares outstanding. When you consider that Apple Stock is worth twelve times that of Microsoft's per share, this article shouldn't surprise anyone.Apple doesn't pay dividends to their shareholders which allows Apple to reinvest in itself every quarter which drives the stock price up. Microsoft pays $0.16 every quarter so if they were to put that back in MSFT, people would be more likely to invest in MSFT (especially day and short term investors) which would cause Microsoft's stock price to leap through the roof. If Microsoft's stock went up five times its current value (pretty likely if they stopped paying dividends or splitting their stock) it wouldn't be a contest.The author of the article from Mac Daily News ought to take a business course or two instead of getting over zealous over this information and running his mouth. His quoteat the end regarding Gates' thought of Jobs is moot since anyone with half a brain knows Gates hasn't been the CEO of MSFT for almost twelve years. MSFT's "falling" has occurred during Balmer's time as CEO which of course is when Apple has made up its ground.If you were to do a real financial analysis of Microsoft versus Apple the two companies net worth would be night and day.
  3. Damon Schmitt at 10:57pm 6th June 2011 I wonder when the "Apple Bubble" will burst.
  4. Dave Moehle at 10:22pm 6th June 2011 @michael... Why use any? Creative makes an excellent mp3 and 4 player, HTC makes a superior phone, Motorola makes a superior tablet...etc etc... What's really the kicker? I can buy ALL 3 items I mentioned for less than 1 iPad.
  5. Arvind Bhargava at 8:20pm 6th June 2011 lol..
  6. Michael Durwin at 8:09pm 6th June 2011 Dave, how many have you used?
  7. Razman Rahim at 8:08pm 6th June 2011 Stay true Apple.
  8. Dave Moehle at 8:07pm 6th June 2011 "worth" is subjective.... I don't think ANY apple product is worth its weight in crap, personally
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