Alphabet Inc., which includes Android-maker Google, just surpassed Apple Inc. as the most valuable company in after-hours trading on Monday.
Alphabet knocks Apple from the top spot that it has held for the better part of four years.
After the bell, Alphabet’s combined share classes were worth a total of $568 billion versus Apple’s value of $535 billion.
A year ago, Apple had a market value of $643 billion, nearly twice Google’s $361 billion.
“The last time Google was more valuable than Apple was in February 2010, when both companies were worth less than $200 billion,” Ari Levy reports for CNBC. “At the time, Apple had yet to release its first iPad, the newest iPhone on the market was the 3GS, and the Mac was the company’s biggest product line, accounting for one-third of revenue. Steve Jobs was still at the helm.”
“Google’s latest rise versus Apple began in July,” Levy reports. “From that point through the end of 2015, its shares soared 44 percent, while Apple’s sank 16 percent.”
“Investors are concerned,” Levy cloims, “that unless Apple changes course and decides to compete with lower cost Android manufacturers on price, the iPhone’s best days are in the past.”
MacDailyNews Take: Holy crap, that’s the stupidest statement of the year so far (and that’s saying a lot)!
Ari, get a clue, will ya? Apple’s iPhone can soon reap 100 percent of world’s smartphone profits.
“According to eMarketer, Google is poised to capture 32 percent of the mobile ad market this year and next, staying well ahead of Facebook, which is around 20 percent,” Levy reports. “The company generates so much profit from its digital ad business that it can invest in all sorts of potential growth areas, namely autonomous driving and extending life.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, while “most valuable company” is a nice title to have, “maker of the best products and services” is really Apple’s goal, not to have the higher result of shares outstanding multiplied by share price.
If losing this symbolic crown – to Google, no less – makes Apple redouble their efforts to delight customers with excellence, we welcome the coronation wholeheartedly.
SEE ALSO:
Alphabet Inc. is close to snatching Apple’s crown as the world’s most valuable company – February 1, 2016
Apple would be worth $1 trillion if market valued it like Steve Jobs-run company – January 4, 2016
Analyst: How Apple’s market value hits $1 trillion in 2016 – November 10, 2015
Analyst: Apple at $1 trillion in a year – May 11, 2015
Apple regains ‘World’s Most Valuable Company’ crown – August 1, 2013
Apple overtakes Exxon Mobil as world’s most valuable company – August 9, 2011
Now we understand why Apple stock is undervalued, because Wall Street intentionally hold it down so Google will surpass Apple. Google is dealing with Wall Street behind the back rooms, release so many negative articles about Apple. I must say it not Samsung that hurts Apple. “It is Google hurts Apple”
Apple core business called “one trick product company”.
Google advertising business is called cored business.
Google is all behind the back stabbing Apple in many ways.
Google separated its advertising business from other moon shooting lost.
So it would not affect its business. That is one smart strategy.
After all, businesses are not plain black and white, but many manipulations involved.
Who can argue with almighty Wall Street?, No one absolutely Nobody!.
“Meanwhile, Google is convincing investors that in the transition from Web to mobile it will maintain its dominance,”
And yet, Giggle’s tech support for consumers is worse than that of a Chinese knock-off maker. Giggle’s an ad company, not a tech company.
Investors are morons.
Why aren’t lower priced iPhones seen as the biggest “new potential growth area”? As carrier subsidies come to an end, people need to stay hooked in ways other than just Apple’s upgrade program. In most countries there aren’t even subsidies and prices are higher anyway so a new iPhone 6s 16GB costs $800+, more than the average person makes in a month in many cases.
With all of Apple’s technology and supply chain expertise, they have to be able to come up with a $199 or $299 phone that provides a good processor, good camera, Touch ID and Apple Pay. 40% margins aren’t doing me any good as a stock holder or Apple as a company. Grow your market, get more people hooked.
Apple is at a crossroads of sorts as a consequence, not of Tim Cook’s failures, but his success. The iPhone 6 and 6+ were phenomenally successful by any standards. The 6S and 6S+ were even more successful and would have been more successful again were it not for the impact of a higher US dollar – something not under Apple’s control.
Apple has been here before. The Mac was a runaway success, and then it wasn’t. IPod arrived and took Apple to the next level. IPhone appeared next just when iPod sales were slipping. IPad came along and delivered another big growth spurt even while iPhone was still growing.
Today, the Mac is a solid and successful line and highly profitable. But the business market remains focused on Windows and will remain so while Apple ignores the business app market. IPad has been cannibalised by iPhone 6/6S+ in particular and Android has made up the app gap. 2/3 of Apple’s revenues are now non-US, so exchange rates are having a huge impact, and likely to have a bigger impact as the world struggles to digest the consequences of income disparity (the crippling of the middle classes) and global warming (the shift of capital and labour from old industries to new).
Cook can’t do much about these external factors. Nor can he, single-handedly, conjour up a new blockbuster product. But what he can do is continue making Apple extremely efficient and highly profitable – he has, by any standards, done a remarkable job in delivering a manufacturing and distribution engine which works astonishingly well and makes a truckload of money.
Apple’s future success relies on incremental improvements, such as Watch, Apple TV, iPad Pro (which is killing Surface) and financial engineering like iPhone subscriptions.
The Mac has been largely ignored except for hardware: MacBook has been a huge success, as has iMac. The IBM relationship may deliver more business focus but Apple needs to rethink its approach to iCloud (far too restrictive) and Pro apps for Mac. Here, I think, Apple wrongly assumed iPad was going to replace the Mac – that was clearly an error of judgement, even though tablets have replaced Wintel and Mac hardware for some users.
There will be a new blockbuster product at some point, but Apple investors will be better served by a new model of consistent, but slower, growth.
Every CEO has strengths. Cook’s strengths have always been in administration – execution of the underlying revenue and profit engine. And he has done an amazing job here. Perhaps The next CEO will be a visionary more in the Jobs mould and can capitalise on the fabulous engine Cook has delivered.