On Wednesday the 19th of August 2020 Apple Inc. became the very first United States (US) company to hit the 2 trillion dollar valuation mark. To put it in perspective, it took the company over 40 years to hit its first trillion dollars. Now it took it 2 years to get to 2 trillion dollars.
But as impressive as that figure is, Apple Inc. is not the world’s first company to get to 2 trillion dollars. That title belongs to Saudi Arabian Oil and Gas Giant; Saudi Aramco. The company hit the 2 trillion dollar mark in December 2019. Its stock price has however not been stable and it eventually went below that mark with Apple Inc. eventually surpassing it on the 4th of August 2020, to become the most valuable company in the world. This was even before Apple itself, hit the 2 trillion dollar figure.
Apple Inc. was also the first United States company to hit the 1 trillion dollar mark. It achieved this feat, on the 2nd of August 2018. Other technology giants; Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet (the parent company that owns Google), joined the elite and elusive 1 trillion dollar club, not long after.
Today and according to the Financial Times one Apple share now stands at $467.77 (50,635 Kenyan Shillings).
Although Apple’s shares over the years have been shaky at best, they have been spectacular this year. The value of said shares has increased by over 50 percent even amidst the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Reports by The Wall Street revealed that since the beginning of June the company’s stocks recorded an increase of 3.5 (on average), every week.
The price of Apple’s shares also increased greatly after the company released an earnings report in July which revealed a total revenue of 59.7 billion dollars an 11 percent increased when compared to what was achieved in the same period last year. The company also reported record sales.
A number of observers attributes Apple growth to its non reliance on its hardware products alone. Its software and other services have become very integral parts of the lives of many Apple users.
Apple is however currently facing a number of probes into how it runs its ecosystem of applications on its hardware products.
Its biggest fight that grabbed the attention of tech enthusiasts and observers alike, is the one with Epic Games; the creator of Fortnite.
Epic Games is reportedly suing Apple for removing its Fortnite application from the iOS platform following an attempt by Epic Games, to find a way around Apple’s payment system.
The reason for Epic Games’ attempt, is that the tech giant’s charge of 30% of each transaction, is steep. A sentiment shared by a number of other companies who use Apple’s App Store.
What company do you think would hit the 2 trillion dollar mark next?
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