Apple: The Trillion Dollar Company
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A first in American history.
Today Apple did something that no other American company has done thus far. They became the first public company in American history to pass $1 trillion in total market cap. Over the past month it was a close race to see whether Amazon or Apple would be the first company to claim the prize, with Apple ultimately crossing the line first. Prior to Apple passing the $1 Trillion mark only one other company in the world PetroChina crossed the mark for a short time in 2007.
Apple hit the $1 trillion mark early this morning when its stock crossed $207.05 per share at 11:48am ET - Chaim Gartenberg
You may remember after Steve Jobs passed in 2011 some people were predicting that event was going to be the end of Apple as we knew it. It's fair to say that those predictions were very wrong. For reference Apple was just above the 300 million market cap mark when Steve Jobs passed in October of 2011. More than two thirds of Apple's growth has come after his death. Tim Cook the current CEO of Apple who took over after Jobs passing deserves a lot of credit for continuing to push Apple forward into the position they currently hold.
Tech Company vs. Luxury Brand
Listening to a podcast on the way home from work yesterday one of the host mentioned that Apple should no longer be viewed as a tech company and instead should be considered a luxury brand. Many people now are buying the iPhone as a way to fit in and show their current status in society. Similar to the same motivations behind buying expensive designer brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
I have to say I agree with the assessment above. When people are willing to pay $999 or more every year for the new iPhone model there is more motivation encouraging that decision than tech upgrades. Here is a list of prices for their top models in each product category:
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| iPhone | $1,149 |
| iPad | $1,279 |
| Apple Watch | $1,349 |
| Macbook | $1,949 |
| Macbook Pro | $6,669 |
| Mac Pro | $6,999 |
| iMac Pro | $13,199 |
Apple has done well selling their products as lifestyle items instead of traditional tech gadgets, which has clearly captured the hearts of many fans. I do not see them losing any of their dominance in the near future and in fact only growing stronger over time.
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Apple has priced themselves out of my budget, but looks like the numbers say there are plenty of people still willing to pay
I'm still holding onto my iPhone 6 Plus because it works just fine and the new models cost an arm and a leg. I will be looking at the new Apple Watch though to see if I want to finally pull the trigger.
Apple is currently such a big name, the product quality is not that important. Plenty of things are better, people just don't care.
I'm summoning some love, tiny payout, me no like.
Yup they realized the importance of their design and user experience long before other companies which really helped them move to the front of the pack. I still find it amazing that people continue to upgrade their products yearly. I always thought if they ran a study I would bet that most people use their new Apple product like it only had the older software functions that their first Apple device had. Meaning even though they upgrade the device I don't think the masses actually relearn the new features and use them often.
Thanks man I appreciate it!
Well put. If I may just add a few points of my own:
Also - Apple devices, specifically laptops and desktop computers are made intentionally difficult to impossible to open and replace hardware - this causes people to replace their entire computer, or come to an Apple-specific tech support for repairs, rather than repairing it themselves or going to another, cheaper tech shop for repairs/replacement of parts.
In addition, any Microsoft OS can be installed on an Apple device (as long as it's paid for), despite the fact that very few non tech-savvy users utilize this option.
These are all points I've run across on my own, seeing as I plan on building a computer of my own (non-Apple, for obvious reasons), and I'm interested in learning and using a few programming languages. I thought you might appreciate the info.
All great points. Thanks for contributing to the post.
I'm a fan of the ecosystem and ease of use when syncing all of the Apple products together. With that being said I completely understand why more tech savvy computer users prefer to build their own PC. I'm sure you will have one hell of a machine once you are done with it.
I waited so long to replace my flip phone with a "smartphone" and did start with an iphone... only a couple years ago! I still have that same 6s, which I use only sparingly anyway. It is such an alien idea to me to buy these things every year. I went plenty of years without even buying the first, and now that I have one I definitely am not feeling any necessity to buy another.
Same here. I have the iPhone 6s Plus and I have no reason to upgrade to a newer version. I do use mine a good bit, but it does everything I need it to do. Newer models would only offer me a bunch of "fluff" that I don't need.
We do seem to be the minority with our opinions. Everyone else is upgrading yearly as they succumb to the marketing hype and pressure put in place by society to have the new gadgets.
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