On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he’d do if he was in charge of Apple Computer, Dell founder and then CEO Michael Dell stood before a crowd of several thousand IT executives and answered flippantly, “What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”
A little more than a month later, on November 10, 1997, new Apple iCEO Steve Jobs responded, speaking in front of an image of Michael Dell’s bulls-eye covered face, “We’re coming after you, you’re in our sights.”
Today, after a little more than eight years of hard work, Apple Computer, Inc. passed Dell, Inc. in market value. That’s right, at market close Apple Computer ($72,132,428,843) is now worth more than Dell ($71,970,702,760).
Got any snappy retorts for that one, Mr. Dell?
Luckily, Apple has had the right man in charge since July 1997; a man with the vision and the ability to do what lesser men think impossible.
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YE BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!
They did it!!! Congratulations Apple!!!
Boy am I glad that I “put my money where my mouth is”. True a bit late in the game but still with a NICE profit.
that goes to show that copying others’ work doesn’t always pay
Wow. Considering how everywhere I look there’s a Dell, this is pretty amazing. Now let’s see Apple’s revenues beat Dell’s.
WITHIN seven years Apple has made that change. Fast, but it wasn’t due to the Computers or software they created, it was because of the iPod and their distirbution of music via the iTMS (okay, that _is_ software).
let’s not loose our minds here. Without the iPod/iTunes success, AAPL would not be anywhere close to DELL’s market cap.
I love Apple, but I am also not on crack.
Dell plastic crap….it should come with a Hefty bag. I have one running in my office, and the loud fan noise is like water torture.
Who cares if it’s because of iPods or if it’s because of computers. Either way, Apple is worth more as a company than Dell is now. Period.
You may see Dells everywhere now, but UK corporates are getting fed up with the rubbish service and are moving back to HP. Every Dell server I see is years old. If this is being repeated elsewhere, Dell are on the way down big time.
The Stock Markets are for speculation. Traders aren’t interested in current earnings, only future potential.
My prediction : Sun to buy Dell in 2008.
So what does this actually mean? Sorry, I don’t know much about economics.
No doubt Dell will resort to the “iPod is just a one-shot fad” argument.
Yeah, like it was last year and the year before that. And the year before that….and in the meantime, iPod continues to grow at a rate of 300% a year.
So, how are those sales of the Dell DJ?
Hoo Rah
Wow, bull-eye! Steve’s perfect shot! Let’s all mark this historical day, and it’s only the begining of what Apple could become in the computing/multimedia powerhouse. M. Dell, feeling the burn? you sure wish you’d better kept your mouth shut then rite, look at you, nothing more than an idiot.
Way to go Applel!!!
After another year we’ll be reading the phrase….
Beleaguered Dell
oct 97 <-> jan 06 = 99 months
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Wow, that iPod’s got legs! And with only 4% of the computer market (and growing)– this is gonna’ grow to be one fat Apple!
Weird how dates sync up with Apple so perfectly…
April 1st – Incorporate Apple (I think, that is)
June 6th (D-Day) – Switch to Intel
The Other Day – Stock price ends up $80.86
Surpasses Mike’s Company – Friday the 13th
Any others?
In response to Moe, what it means that Apple, the company, is worth more than Dell, the company. If a third company were to buy one or the other, it would cost them more to buy Apple, in theory. What this means, is that the market, today, considers the present value of Apple’s future income stream, less its liabilities, is greater than Dell’s. The market capitalization should be approximately equal to this present value. If the market cap is greater, then institutions will sell, bringing down the stock price. If the market cap is greater, then they will buy, driving up the stock price, either way, driving the price toward the present value.
There’s nowhere to go but down for Dell. Apple innovates “upward”, creating exciting new products and services that capture the public’s imagination and inspire interest in the company. Dell innovates plenty as well, but they innovate “downward”, finding new ways to increase production efficiency and cut costs, making computers as cheaply and quickly as possible.
The problem for Dell is that “downward” innovation is limited by the floor; i.e. you can only cut and trim so far, and they’ve reached that limit. By contrast, Apple’s innovative capacity is limited only by the imagination of its employees.
Dell has no real future. Oh, they won’t necessarily disappear, but they’ve achieved all they can achieve. From here on out, they’re merely another Windows box assembler, fighting with Lenovo et al for a share of a revenue pie that will steadily shrink as the product in question becomes ever more commoditized.
Hey Mr. Dell, EAT APPLES DUST!
LOSER!
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
I imagine it’s a bit chilly inside Dell’s HQ these days. Sure, just like Microsoft, they’re a cash cow**, but they’ve got Lenovo sneaking up behind them. That can’t be a good feeling.
**I just checked– Dell has a little more money in the bank than Apple. They’ll need it.
Tera Patricks
Mac360
Bill and Monkey Boy is next.
Rock Steve!
It doesn’t matter if Apple’s success is due to the iPod.
Dell also sells their DJ mp3 players which can be used with a variety of online music stores except iTunes. Yet the DJ (DJ = Dell’s Junk) hasn’t caused Dell’s stock to climb nor has it produced any significant revenue/money for them.
Apple’s Mac has seen significant growth every quarter and is about to see even more growth with the intel chips and greater apple computer awarness.
Both Apple and Dell sell basically the same type of hardware.
Apple is an innovator and has consistently produced completely awsome technology that everyone can easily use and wants. Apple shows no signs of slowing down either. They can only acheive more success from their position of being a “niche player” in the computer market.
Dell is just a copycat company that manufactures cheap, below-quality computers that comes with an out-of-date legacy foundational, unsecured and bug ridden Windows OS. Many folks are finally realizing this and are giving Apple another look!
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That’s what happens when you have large volume and low margin. What good is that to investors?
Nada, Mike.
Bozo.
Steve
We all knew this day would come…well, except for Michael Dell apparently. What a joke.
“How’s dem Apples?!”