Apple have overtaken PetroChina Co. to become the second biggest company on the planet.
Apple are now valued at $265.8 billion which surpasses the worth of PetroChina at $265.5 billion. Apple are one of the fastest growing companies on the planet and are still trailing Exxon Mobile Corp who are worth $313.3 billion. Analysts say that at the continued growth rate Apple will overtake Exxon possibly within 18-24 months.
“‘There’s no reason at all Apple can’t grow much, much bigger,' said Jane Snorek, an analyst with Minneapolis-based First American Funds. “Apple still has a small portion of the market for phones and computers”, she said.
Since Apple brought out the iPhone in January 2007, their stock has more than tripled. The phone accounts for almost 30 percent of the company's revenue, which is a staggering percentage. The iPad has helped to generate a lot of money for Apple over the last few months and with a new 7 inch version planned, they are continuing to focus on the mobile marketplace.
Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos in Minneapolis said that he expects Apple to sell 21 million iPads next year which will generate billions alone. He also said that Apple's stock could reach $390 a share.
KitGuru says: Apple do however face a growing threat from Android, we predict massive growth for this OS in 2011.
That is a crazy amount of money when you try and work it out. I think they will get past exxon sooner than that if they continue on the sales path they are going.
This is scary. I remember when Bill Gates sent them 200 million bucks to help out years ago. Who would ever have thought. Steve Jobs must go down in history as one of the most successful CEO’s of all time.