Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud.
Apple has become the first company worth more than $800 billion. Yes, it’s real, this week, Apple was valued at more than $800 billion. And how did that happen that the tech giant broke its own record?
It marked the first time that the company’s market capitalization ever reached that figure, breaking its own record from February 2015 when its market capitalization was $774.7 billion. The tech giant became the first publicly traded company to ever achieve that milestone.
At this time last year, Apple had reported a year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue for the first time in 13 years. In its earnings report for the second quarter of 2017, the company disclosed that it had sold fewer iPads (down 12 percent) and Macs (down 4 percent) than it had in 2016.
Meanwhile, iPhone sales were largely flat, but speaking to the results during an earnings call, CEO Tim Cook was unfazed. “We’re seeing what we believe to be a pause in purchases of iPhone which we believe are due to the earlier and much more frequent reports about future iPhones.”
Since the iPhone was introduced to the world a decade ago this January, the device has driven the majority of the company’s sales, and the iPhone 8 is on track to debut this fall. Amid those decreasing numbers, there was an underlying question of whether Apple could top the iPhone and come out with another game changing device.
But it’s possible that the company may not have to reach those previous heights to maintain the confidence of its customers and industry watchers alike.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, Apple’s valuation has been depressed for years as investors grew concerned that Apple would fall victim to the missteps of consumer electronic companies of the past. Apple has proven its resilience through its unique ability to develop hardware, software and services that work seamlessly together. And I believe this positions Apple very well to capitalize on the trend toward more ‘things’ becoming a computer. It seems that the company’s consistency could see it through any rough patches — though if Apple’s rough patch includes an $800 billion-record breaking valuation, the company probably doesn’t need to be worried.
