Apple Makes History: Becomes First Company To Hit $3 Trillion Market Value

New Delhi, 1st July 2023: Apple, the technology giant that has revolutionized society with its groundbreaking products and remarkable profitability, has achieved yet another historic milestone. It became the first publicly traded company to conclude a trading day with a staggering market value of USD 3 trillion. This achievement solidifies Apple’s position as a dominant force in the technology industry.

On Friday, Apple shares closed at USD 193.97, representing a 2.3 per cent increase and bringing the company’s market value to an unprecedented USD 3.04 trillion. Alongside other technology powerhouses like Microsoft and chipmaker Nvidia, Apple has played a crucial role in driving the S&P 500 to a remarkable gain of nearly 16 per cent in the first half of the year.

The company, founded by the legendary Steve Jobs 47 years ago in Silicon Valley, had briefly surpassed the USD 3 trillion mark on consecutive days in January 2022. However, it was unable to maintain this position by the time the market closed. Following this setback, Apple experienced a prolonged decline in its stock price, briefly dipping below a USD 2 trillion market value earlier this year. The deceleration in growth and investor concerns about rising interest rates, which affected the entire tech sector, contributed to this decline.

It was only earlier this month that Apple came close to the USD 3 trillion threshold again. The catalyst for this achievement was the company’s announcement of a potentially groundbreaking product, the Vision Pro, a high-priced virtual reality headset that immerses users in artificial settings. The achievement of attaining a market value of USD 3 trillion holds great symbolism, although its sheer magnitude is unquestionably awe-inspiring.

To put the USD 3 trillion figure into perspective, consider that it could purchase nearly 9 million homes in the United States, based on the average sales price calculated by Zillow. Alternatively, it could acquire the 50 most valuable sports teams globally, with considerable change remaining. If this sum were distributed equally among the population of the United States, each person would receive approximately USD 9,000.

Following Apple’s ascent, Microsoft takes second place as the second-most valuable public company, with a market value of USD 2.5 trillion. Oil giant Saudi Aramco follows closely behind at USD 2.08 trillion. Other notable companies such as Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Amazon, and Nvidia boast market values surpassing USD 1 trillion.

The journey from USD 2 trillion to USD 3 trillion took Apple less than two years, a remarkable feat considering it took around two years to reach the USD 2 trillion milestone after initially crossing the USD 1 trillion mark in August 2021. These successive trillions are the result of the technological empire that Apple has built since Jobs’ return to the company in 1997 after being ousted by then-CEO John Sculley in 1985. At that time, Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy and sought assistance from its once-rival, Microsoft.

Apple’s tremendous profitability enables it to allocate USD 105 billion annually towards investor dividends and repurchasing its stock. Even after these significant expenditures, the company retains nearly USD 56 billion in cash at the end of each fiscal quarter.

The iPhone, introduced by Steve Jobs in 2007 with his characteristic flair, remains the jewel in Apple’s crown. In the past year, the iPhone alone contributed to over 50% of the company’s impressive sales, amounting to nearly USD 400 billion. Apple also generates revenue from other products such as the Macintosh computer, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, and a services division encompassing music and video streaming, warranty programs, fees from the iPhone app store, and advertising commissions paid by Google for being the default search engine on the iPhone.

While many of Apple’s groundbreaking innovations were conceived during Steve Jobs

‘ tenure, a significant portion of its wealth has been generated under the leadership of its current CEO, Tim Cook. Cook assumed the CEO position shortly before Jobs’ passing in October 2011 when Apple’s market value stood at USD 350 billion. Under Cook’s stewardship, Apple has continued to thrive and redefine the boundaries of technological innovation.