On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he’d do if he was in charge of Apple, Dell founder and 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 Interim CEO (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.”
On January 13, 2006, after a little more than eight years of hard work, Apple Inc. passed Dell, Inc. in market value, $72.13 billion vs. $71.97 billion at market close, respectively.
• 2X: On July 27, 2007, Apple’s value doubled that of Dell’s, $127.81 billion vs. $63.65 billion, respectively.
• 3X: On December 6, 2007, Apple’s market value passed 3 times that of Dell’s, $165.66 billion vs. $54.42 billion, respectively.
• 4X: On May 01, 2008, Apple’s market value quadrupled that of Dell’s, $158.66 billion vs. $38.97 billion, respectively.
• 5X: On February 12, 2009, Apple rose $2.60 to hit a market value of $88.37 billion or 5 times that of Dell’s $17.52 billion.
• 6X: On October 20, 2009, Apple rose $11.21 to $201.07 to hit a market value of $180.12 billion or more than 6 times that of Dell’s $29.97 billion.
• 7X: On January 26, 2010, Apple gained $7.57 to $210.64 to hit a market value of $189.72 billion or more than 7 times that of Dell’s current $27.03 billion.
• 8X: On May 21, 2010, Apple gained $1.95 to $239.74 to hit a market value of $218.12 billion or more than 8 times that of Dell’s current $25.84 billion.
• 9X: On June 1, 2010, Apple gained $6.89 to $263.77 to hit a market value of $240.01 billion or more than 9 times that of Dell’s current $26.29 billion.
• 10X: On September 9, 2010, Apple gained $1.60 to $265.37 to hit a market value of $242.43 billion or more than 10 times that of Dell’s current $24.21 billion.
• 11X: On September 23, 2010, Apple rose $3.79, or 1.32%, to $291.54 to hit a market value of $266.34 billion or more than 11 times that of Dell’s current $23.81 billion.
• 12X: On January 27, 2011, Apple rose $0.26, or 0.08%, to $344.11 to hit a market value of $317.02 billion or more than 12 times that of Dell’s current $26.02 billion.
• 13X: On August 26, 2011, Apple rose $9.86, or 2.64%, to $383.58 to hit a market value of $355.61 billion or more than 13 times that of Dell’s current $27.29 billion.
• 14X: On September 20, 2011, Apple rose $1.82, or 0.44%, to $413.45 to hit a market value of $383.31 billion or more than 14 times that of Dell’s current $27.15 billion.
• 15X: On February 15, 2012, Apple rose $14.03, or 2.75%, to $523.49 to hit a market value of $486.78 billion or more than 15 times that of Dell’s current $32.37 billion.
• 16X: On february 29, 2012, Apple rose $8.43, or 1.575%, to $543.84 to hit a market value of $505.75 billion or more than 16 times that of Dell’s current $31.35 billion.
• 17X: On March 12, 2012, Apple rose $3.27, or 0.60%, to $548.44 to hit a market value of $512.33 billion or more than 17 times that of Dell’s current $29.94 billion.
• 18X: On March 19, 2012, Apple rose $9.94, or 1.70%, to $595.51 to hit a market value of $553.29 billion or more than 18 times that of Dell’s current $30.61 billion.
• 19X: On March 26, 2012, Apple rose $10.93, or 1.83%, to $606.98 to hit a market value of $565.93 billion or more than 19 times that of Dell’s current $29.43 billion.
• 20X: On April 3, 2012, Apple rose $10.49, or 1.70%, to $629.12 to hit a market value of $585.93 billion or more than 20 times that of Dell’s current $29.21 billion.
• 21X, 22X: On, May 23, 2012, Apple’s market value stood at $520.40 billion or more than 22 times that of Dell’s current $22.90 billion after Dell shed over 15% following another poor earnings report coupled with weak guidance.
• 23X: Also on May 23, 2012, Apple’s market value stood at $520.45 billion or more than 23 times that of Dell’s current $22.15 billion after Dell shed over 16% following another poor earnings report coupled with weak guidance.
• 24X: And again on May 23, 2012, Apple’s market value was $524.00 billion or more than 24 times that of Dell’s current $21.83 billion after Dell shed over 18% following another poor earnings report coupled with weak guidance.
• 25X: On June 4, 2012, Apple’s market value hit $527.65 billion or more than 25 times that of Dell’s current $20.99 billion.
• 26X: On June 19, 2012, Apple’s market value hit $550.43 billion or more than 26 times that of Dell’s current $21.15 billion.
• 27X: On July 23, 2012, Apple’s market value hit $564.62 billion or more than 27 times that of Dell’s current $20.64 billion.
• 28X: On August 2, 2012, Apple’s market value hit $569.75 billion or more than 28 times that of Dell’s current $20.06 billion.
• 29X and 30X: Today, August 22, 2012, Apple’s market value hit $610.02 billion or more than 30 times that of Dell’s current $20.29 billion.
Apple is also a debt-free company and currently has more than six times Dell Inc.’s total worth in cash.
Hello, Mikey? Miiikkkkeeeyyy? Got any snappy retorts now?
See AAPL and DELL quotes via NASDAQ here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RobG” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple now worth 28 times Dell’s market value – August 2, 2012
Apple now worth 27 times Dell’s market value – July 23, 2012
Apple now worth 26 times Dell’s market value – June 19, 2012
Apple now worth 25 times Dell’s market value – June 4, 2012
Apple now worth 24 times Dell’s market value – May 23, 2012
Apple now worth 23 times Dell’s market value – May 23, 2012
Apple now worth 22 times Dell’s market value – May 23, 2012
Apple now worth twenty times Dell’s market value – April 3, 2012
Apple now worth nineteen times Dell’s market value – March 26, 2012
Apple now worth eighteen times Dell’s market value – March 19, 2012
Apple now worth seventeen times Dell’s market value – March 12, 2012
Apple now worth sixeen times Dell’s market value – February 29, 2012
Apple now worth fifteen times Dell’s market value – February 15, 2012
Apple now worth fourteen times Dell’s market value – September 20, 2011
Apple now worth thirteen times Dell’s market value – August 26, 2011
Apple now worth twelve times Dell’s market value – January 27, 2011
Apple now worth eleven times Dell’s market value – September 23, 2010
Apple now worth ten times Dell’s market value – September 09, 2010
Apple now worth nine times Dell’s market value – June 01, 2010
Apple now worth eight times Dell’s market value – May 21, 2010
Apple now worth seven times Dell’s market value – January 26, 2010
Apple now worth sextuple Dell’s market value – October 20, 2009
Apple now worth quintuple Dell’s market value – February 12, 2009
Apple could buy Dell outright; Mac-maker has more cash on hand than Dell is worth – October 21, 2008
Apple now worth quadruple Dell’s market value – May 01, 2008
Apple now worth triple Dell’s market value – December 06, 2007
Apple now worth double Dell’s market value – July 27, 2007
Beleaguered Dell: Shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders – March 02, 2007
Biting words on Apple come back to haunt Dell – February 10, 2007
Steve Jobs emails Apple team: Michael Dell not the best prognosticator, Apple worth more than Dell – January 16, 2006
Apple now worth more than Dell – January 13, 2006
Ooh this never gets old.
Great morning news.
Never!!! That crossed eyed clown. Nothing to say now.
Another way to look at it:
$1000 invested in AAPL in Oct 1997 would be worth $65,595 today.
$1000 invested in DELL in Oct 1997 would be worth $2,710 today.
Just assuming your numbers are accurate (I have not checked them):
For Dell that’s an average compound growth rate of about 7.4%. Not bad, but not good. It’s well over the *minimum* return that many investors require: twice the inflation rate (which was a 2.6% over that same period).
However, this is no where near the 34.8% compound growth rate of Apple’s stock in the same period.
I love this anecdote from a former Apple employee about an internal town hall right after Steve came back.
Someone in the audience asked him about Michael Dell’s suggestion in the press a few days previous that Apple should just shut down and return the cash to shareholders.
Steve’s response was: “Fuck Michael Dell.”
http://john.jubjubs.net/2011/10/09/steve-jobs/
Eeeuuuu. Perish the thought of doing that.
Take a look at the graph and select the 10 year range:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=compare%20market%20cap%20of%20dell%20and%20apple
Select the 5 year log scale: Apple is damn near exponential!
I never tire of this!
I understand there is plenty of crow in Texas for Mikey to eat. 🙂
NGO
Never Gets Old
Wasn’t it 31 x two days ago, yet you never said anything. Yesterday the market took a big hit dragging Apple down about 30 billion.
I think MDN should start dispalying a graph of the two market caps over the years…. the market caps moving in opposite directions will be satisfying to see illustrated!
OMG! We should plaster that on all the bloggers and iHaters on CNUTJOBS and ZDNUTHEAD commenters.
Ding dong dell…
Apple hasn’t been in a race with Dell for 6-1/2 years. Gotta move on. Apple’s struggle isn’t in the past…it’s in the future. Let’s hope they see it clearly.
Stop this nonsense MDN !!
You’re gonna have in your conscience the suicide of Mr. Dell…
LOL
Now worth 31 times. Hard to keep up!
It is now 31.67 times
Hey, maybe now it’s time to shut down Dell and feed the remains to the dogs. Somebody is eating his words big time