Apple now worth fifteen times Dell’s market value

52 Comments

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: Today, 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.

Apple is also a debt-free company and currently has three times more in cash on-hand (now over $100 billion) than Dell Inc. is worth.

Hello, Mikey? Miiiiikeeeeey? Got any snappy retorts today?

See AAPL and DELL quotes via NASDAQ here.

Related articles:
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

52 Comments

    5. No, it doesn’t get old! But, at 15X it’s getting hard to keep track. I guess we need to also tabulate the multiple of Apple’s cash hoard vs. the total value of Dell. We’re at 3X now and growing…

      Reply

        2. You’re a moron. You locked in some capital gains; so now what do you do? Oh, I’m sure Dell is selling at a discount, maybe that’s where you should invest next, ‘skippy’

        1. Ok. Market closed. Down $11.79. Now how smart do you look? You really should stick to posting regarding subjects you grasp. Your comment about liars(?) and Greece have absolutely nothing to do with AAPL! Clearly you don’t understand equities. Feel free to post as a fanboy but stay away from stocks. You are clearly a fool. To put it kindly.

        2. Good point. (Not) No matter how a stock moves in a day, you don’t sell on a single day’s activity, especially given the consistent overall gain AAPL is showing. Clearly you’ve either lost your nerve or you’ve lost your confidence in AAPL. That or you make your money churning stock.

  7. Snappy retorts? Nope jesh pashin’ bye cross-eyed on my way to the sink hole of also-ran irrelevant tech companies peddlin’ PCrap and nuttin’ spatial. Oh yeah and with me tail beneath me humbled hot air lungs, legs, market cap and stock. DON’T LOOK AT ME!

    Reply

  8. I remember the day I saw the news that Steve Jobs modestly sent a email to all his employees about Apple passing Dell in market value. It wasn’t much, but who would say that day was the begging of one of many embarrassed executives…. Steve Balmer, Ed Colligan, Motorola CEO, RIM’s former CEOs and many more.

    Reply

  11. You know, I’ve been using Macs since my first bondi-blue G3 tower which I bought in 1999.

    But, I started following Apple in about 1996 after the vampires Irving Gould & Medhi Ali sucked the life out of Commodore and left the Amiga’s twitching, emaciated corpse on the sidewalk.

    Back when we had to actually use modems, my daily dose of internet tech news always started with Jack Miller’s website, ‘As the Apple Turns’.

    I will never forget when Michael Dell said that Apple to should ‘Shut the company down…’

    If you want to understand why ‘Apple fanbois’ are so sensitive, faithful and voracious, all you have to do is look at the years and years of condescension, derision, and disdain that have been heaped upon us by Windows users.

    After years in the wilderness, the superior platform is finally getting its due and I would like to extend a congratulatory middle finger to Michael Dell and others like him.

    Eat it, b*tch.

    Reply

    2. Excellent post, I completely agree!

      In the 80’s and 90’s, Apple was the kid that everybody picked on in high school. Now, Apple is the popular, well-dressed, wealthy one that all the others wish they could get the time of day from.

      I’ve been using Apple computers since my dad brought our first Apple II home from the only local Apple dealer of the day in 1979. Later, I worked in an Apple dealer, and I’ve been a Mac user since the beginning.

      Damn, it’s a good time to be an Apple fan.

      Reply

  12. MDN: “Hello, Mikey? Miiiiikeeeeey? Got any snappy retorts today?”

    We all know what he would say: He was misunderstood in 1997.

    To be fair, the headline can’t all be explained by Apple’s great products and management. Dell’s market cap has fallen from $72 billion in 2006 to $32.5 billion today. That’s a loss of 55%. If not for that, Apple would ‘only’ be worth 7-8 times the value of Dell.

    Reply

  15. Dell’s shareprice has been going up lately as has Microsoft’s. When it reverts back to its recent average of around $27, Apple will probably be close to 20x more than Dell. Shouldn’t be more than a couple months when the next earnings report comes out.

    Reply

      1. Yea.

        I was a support person for Macs going back to the late 80s up to now. Oh the fond memories of dealing with IT people over the years.
        They would make fun of the Macs and block them at every instance they could if someone tried to purchase one at their company.

        So, yea, those types need it shoved in their face now.

        Reply

    3. Oh I am a hardcore Apple Fanboy. But I have only been dedicated Apple Product Only person for 10 years. While I know the Mac was put down for many many years, and I remember growing up using Mac’s at my school and preferring them over Windows 3.11, to me, I looked at the Dell v Apple thing being about a company Founder/CoFounder coming and taking over a company and running it the best. In that case, Apple wins.

      Apple will always win. They had (and have always had) the better product.

      But in my eyes, and probably my eyes only, the Apple values vs Dell is a pointless comparison now.

      Put it this way, it’s one thing to be a sore loser, but it’s a million times worse to be a sore winner, no matter how bad you were put down on the way up the ladder. So to keep rubbing in how much better you are doing when you are clearly the biggest and most profitable corporation to ever exist on the planet doesn’t say much about you.

      And to be clear, I know Apple isn’t saying this, their fans are. So that comment above is aimed at the Apple fans, not the corporation.

      And to be clearer, I am a fan of Apple Fans, because they are generally more educated than the average person. I just think that there is a point where enough is enough.

      Reply

      1. If the town bully is put into the stock and people gather round to pelt him with spoilt food, working out their long pent-up emotions, do you stand up after three rotten eggs and a hambone and say, “It’s getting boring now! Pointless to continue!” No, all the victims will insist on having a go at the brute.

        It will play out in its own proper time.

        Reply

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