“I was having a discussion with a few executives at a technology summit I was attending, and an interesting question was asked to me concerning what America would look like without Apple,” Ben Bajarin writes for TIME Magazine. One “interesting thing to look at it is what America’s corporate earnings would look like at large without Apple. In the fourth quarter Apple gave the S&P 500 a significant boost: S&P 500 companies grew at about 6% year over year. If you take Apple out of that equation, the growth would drop to 3%. Many financial-analyst notes I saw mentioned this, pointing out that the S&P 500 was basically rescued by Apple.”
“There’s another interesting point that I think often gets overlooked on this topic: how Apple has basically reinvigorated the software industry for computers. It’s done this by way of apps, but to some degree it’s happening with desktop and notebook software as well,” Bajarin writes. “According to Apple’s own estimates, looking at the iOS app economy, this new industry — iOS design and development — has created 210,000 jobs and growing in the U.S.”
Bajarin writes, “As important as Apple has been to the broader economic market, I think the most important way that Apple has benefited America is in terms of technological competitiveness. Apple has been incredibly important — especially over the past decade — to America’s competitiveness in terms of global technology leadership. The iPod initially kicked off this trend, but the iPhone is the device that really set it in stone.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
America’s best company. Period.
Ever.
Time to shut it down and give the money (much of it) to the ones with the longest/strongest lobbying reaches/prowess; the rest should go to lawyers, and if there’s any leftovers (rest not yet accrued) to “non-profits” like CR and certain green revolutionaries etc.
Krquet, I really hope you are trying to be sarcastic, because if you’re in any way serious you have just declared yourself jackass of the month.
Not to worry, your crown is still safe.
Good one!
It’s down to one thing. Innovation. Apple innovates, it creates new markets and revitalises established ones. That’s what drives a nation’s economy, constant renewal and progress. Apple aren’t alone in the USA for this, but they stand out because they are consistently good at it.
Don’t kill the goose that las the golden egg.
I’d go with the 442 Infantry Regiment B Company as America’s best company. Most decorated Company in WW2.
Those Japanese-American boys sure could fight.
“According to Apple’s own estimates, looking at the iOS app economy, this new industry — iOS design and development — has created 210,000 jobs and growing in the U.S.”
By way of comparison, the $800 Billion “stimulus” arguably only “saved or created” some 2 million jobs. Apropos, 60 Minutes had a segment Sunday night on the jobs *lost* when the Shuttle program was shut down – all to save some $3 Billion a year – that’s 1/10 of 1% of the current Federal budget. (Meanwhile, far more has been spent to promote “green” jobs, with little to show for it.)
Why America needs Apple? Because the past few years it seems being successful is a bad thing. Successful corporations were evil and individuals who were successful were bad people. When future events allow for change we can believe in and where successful companies are not abhorred and successful people are not ridiculed, we’ll need Apple around as an example. An example to remind us and to emulate that being successful is not a bad thing after all.
Being successful makes the corporation or individual neither good, nor bad. MIcrosoft was incredibly successful for so many years — but it was success based on abuse. It’s behaviour that is good or bad. Apple’s is great overall. May it stay that way and Apple continue to be successful for a long, long time…
Apple should be a model for other companies. Learn to innovate, learn to invest in your people and in America.
There are enough companies that do this but others, many others don’t. These are HP, Dell and countless others that invest in their CEO’s and when their company suffers, the CEO wins. Anyone can run a company but not everyone can make their company achieve continued success.
A good company also invests in their home first before branching out.
Recipe for success.
Apple needs to be split out of the S&P500 and stop propping the lame and lazy up. We need a separate category for Apple and companies like it: The Americas Great Ten. Let the S&P490 show the results for the middle ground, the average performance. Or put some SixSigma metrics, so we don’t confuse the mediocre performance of the One Sigma Companies with the greater performance available from better companies.