“For decades the lists of the largest companies in the world were dominated by oil and gas giants – BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total had the commodity that everyone needed,” Matt Warman writes for The Telegraph. “But the advent of the digital age increasingly means technology is the new resource. Touchscreens and software from Apple… are frequently deemed as essential by businesses and consumers as power itself, and their results show it.”
“In Tuesday’s latest quarterly numbers, Apple revealed that it had made as much money as ever at $37.43bn (£21.9), with vast cash reserves – $165bn – largely held outside its US base,” Warman writes. “Improving margins and sales mean it sold more iPhones and made more money than it ever has for a comparable period in its history.”
“In fact, Apple’s position is increasingly analogous to those giant oil companies. The huge profits made hardly a difference to its share price because that is now what investors expect,” Warman writes. “They come from Apple exploring new territories, finding new markets where it can sell its existing products, and from the company continuing to mine its vast, existing fields of users in Europe, America and increasingly China.”
Much more in the full article here.