This link says apple is the world's second-largest company http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/24/apple_number_two/ But Microsoft has twice the revenue, assets, equity, profit, employees etc. How can Microsoft be smaller than apple? Also Samsung has so 2 times the revenue, assets, employees as Microsoft. Why is that not higher?
Yeah...WMT has 10 times as much revenue and twice the profit of apple too, plus there are alot more walmarts in the world than apple stores. Apple supporters are like Obama supporters. They have no rational reason why they like it, they just do. I honestly do not get it. Sometimes when i walk through the mall (I usually do so during the day when everyone is at work because I dont like crowded malls) and most stores will be empty, but when I walk by the apple store, it looks like they are having a convention in there. Personally...I think its the "cool" factor. People think that if they have an apple product it somehow makes them a better person. That they are somehow accomplished in life if they can be seen in the apple store. That or apple uses subliminal programming in their commercials that make people out like robots.
True, it always looks like a convention in there. Microsoft of course is running to open up its 5th location right across from the apple store in the mall of america in MN. You know how apple has the genius bar, well msft is going to have the answer desk. When is microsoft going to just give up all together, seems no matter how hard they try they just keep losing.
I suggest reading up on the concept of mimesis to better understand Apple's success. Watching friends declare bankruptcy, and only a month later buy an Apple TV and line up for an Ipad is something I wouldn't have believed (even though David Rosenberg pointed this out in his blog word for word months ago) Anyways, mimesis is based loosely on a French literary critic's (Rene Girard) theory of psychology. People's desire usually comes from someone else. It is a template for their own desire. And so on.... Apple provides the framework / template for your desire and so on through the public sphere. Many companies products provide this, Apple is just really really good at it. Apple aside, watching how people behave with its produces and its stock price is insightful for how we act as humans.
microsoft is on the way out slowly, they have nothing new to offer. apple (current stock valuation aside) is just getting started. Iphone will continue to gain market share, especially after verizon start to sell them next year. ipad, which i thought was a gimmick, is now poised to replace many notebook/pc at home, it's the fastest selling electronic in history beating dvd players etc.. by a wild margin. If you think about it, it made sense. The casual users only really need browser, email, and video. And whatever niche program they use, apple most likely has an app for it. And it's so much easier and natural for them to do it on an ipad then sit in front of a computer. The significance out of all this, is not how many ipad/iphone apple will sell, it's how their software/os are slowly becoming dominate in the market, which means complete integration with itune/app store/ads etc..the real cash cow. internet tv is the next frontier, and apple tv is looking to attack it head on. I dont think apple tv has much to offer, but thought the same about ipad and was wrong. The company is on a tear, i used to think apple products is just a gimmick for the hipsters with a nicer looking exterior. But after owning their iphone, ipad, macbook pro etc.. I come to appreciate the user interaction - "humanization" aspect of all their products. You can call me a true convert now. I only use the pc for video games, since the video cards apple use are not top end and many games are only on the pc.
The market capitalization of Apple ($267bn) is more than Microsoft ($214.4bn) and Samsung. So apple is bigger than these 2 companies.