At $400 billion, Apple is worth more than the entire country of Greece - Polidicks

[b]By David Goldman[/b] [img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/2012/01/19/technology/apple_market_cap/chart-apple-market-cap.top.gif[/img] [quote]NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Apple's value on the stock market briefly rose to $400 billion on Thursday, a record high for what was already the world's most valuable technology company. The company's market cap slipped below the $400 billion mark by midday as Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) stock fell back from the all-time high of $431.37 it set earlier in the morning. Shares ended the day slightly down, leaving Apple with a $398 billion market value. Still, that puts Apple in some pretty exclusive territory. Only Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) has a higher valuation, at about $420 billion. PetroChina (PTR) is Apple's closest competitor, at $270 billion, and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) follows at $235 billion. Apple's market cap is higher than the gross domestic product of Greece, Austria, Argentina, or South Africa. (For more comparisons, check out this excellent blog: Things Apple is Worth More Than.) Despite its size, Apple is still one of the fastest growing technology companies. The company will report its finances for the past quarter next week, and analysts expect Apple to announce that its sales grew by 45% compared to last year, according to a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters. Apple's financial empire Unsurprisingly, Apple topped CNNMoney's survey of technology analysts about the best tech company to invest in for the future. Choosing Apple for the prestigious spot as one of the Four Horsemen of Tech, respondents noted that Apple is a frontrunner in the smartphone revolution. Its iPad created a new category of mobile computing, and Apple has embraced cloud computing with its high-profile iCloud. Apple's growth is a stunning achievement for a 35-year old company that had a market cap of just $10 billion a decade ago. The company's turnaround began with the launch of the iPod, and growth really skyrocketed after the iPhone's release in 2007. Apple is forecast to have sold a record 30 million iPhones last quarter, following the launch of the iPhone 4S in October. Apple on Thursday announced three new initiatives to reinvent the textbook, including the ability to create and publish searchable, updatable and interactive e-textbooks for the iPad. The company also released a publishing tool for secondary school curriculums and instituted a $15 price cap for e-textbooks on the iBookstore. [/quote] [url=http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/19/technology/apple_market_cap/index.htm]SOUCE[/url]

It won´t last forever for Apple.

capitalism at it's finest

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;34307654]It won´t last forever for Apple.[/QUOTE] I don't see greece lasting very long either.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;34307654]It won´t last forever for Apple.[/QUOTE] Their market may not be infinite, but the potential of slapping "upgrades" on an already existing piece of shit and call it revolutionary in it's field is too great to fail them.

Corporations are the new super power.

I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc

[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;34307889]I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc[/QUOTE] because that's just not how it works

[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;34307889]I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc[/QUOTE] There's a reason why so many countries are in debt. Running a country is much harder than running a company.

[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;34307889]I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc[/QUOTE] They do this, its called giving loans to countries who cant pay them back and then austerity measures are imposed. Suddenly cheap labor and the corporation controls the country without actually having to run it.

[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;34307889]I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc[/QUOTE] I just don't comprehend the stupid in this post.

Does this mean new iphone versions come with packets of female arm pit hair the length of a bus

I still hate apple, and will never use one of there products.

[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;34307889]I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc[/QUOTE] You can't buy a country.

Does this mean that Apple could, theoretically, buy Greece? Out with Zeus and in with the Lord Steve Jobs [editline]20th January 2012[/editline] Well fuck, ninjad Oh well

Doesn't come as much of a surprise honestly. Hopefully Greece lasts longer though.

[QUOTE='[sluggo];34308245']I still hate apple, and will never use one of there products.[/QUOTE] [i]Their[/i] products, however, come with a spell check, which could help you.

[QUOTE=Ruski v2.0;34307889]I don't see why big companies dont jsut buy a small country. think of the benefits- the right to an army, a cheap labour force, brainwashing people t buy things etc etc[/QUOTE] You can't just "buy" a country, if you've noticed, every piece of land in the world is possessed by people that live there.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;34308543]You can't just "buy" a country, if you've noticed, every piece of land in the world is possessed by people that live there.[/QUOTE]Everything has its price.

[QUOTE=koeniginator;34308264]You can't buy a country.[/QUOTE] Have you ever been to America?

[QUOTE=Daemon;34307765]Corporations are the new super power.[/QUOTE] Corporations have more power than the government. I don't even know whose side i'm on.

[QUOTE=koeniginator;34308264]You can't buy a country.[/QUOTE] It's been done before, actually. It's usually those islands that aren't part of any real nation.

[QUOTE=Mattk50;34308121]They do this, its called giving loans to countries who cant pay them back and then austerity measures are imposed. Suddenly cheap labor and the corporation controls the country without actually having to run it.[/QUOTE] *cough*[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company#Banana_massacre"]unitedfruitcompany[/URL]*cough* Its the atrocity with the funny name

[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;34309382]It's been done before, actually. It's usually those islands that aren't part of any real nation.[/QUOTE] Lobbying.

I think if Apple ever got it's own country, it be a authoritarian dictatorship. Houses without windows, citizens only alowed to wear turtlenecks, that baby music in the Mac commercials played on every street corner, attempting to have anthing that looks a bit like a iPhone punishable by death.

I think I'm worth more than the entire country of Greece, considering I have money.

[QUOTE=Sumap;34309522]I think if Apple ever got it's own country, it be a authoritarian dictatorship. Houses without windows, citizens only alowed to wear turtlenecks, that baby music in the Mac commercials played on every street corner, [B]attempting to have anthing that looks a bit like a iPhone punishable by death.[/B][/QUOTE] What if it IS an iPhone? iPhones look like themselves! Do they get a horrible, painful death if they own one? >:U

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;34309345]Corporations have more power than the government. I don't even know whose side i'm on.[/QUOTE] I would probably side with the corporations. At least they didn't need 13 million people screaming at them to realize SOPA was a pile of shit.

[QUOTE=Sumap;34309522]I think if Apple ever got it's own country, it be a authoritarian dictatorship. [b]Houses without windows,[/b] citizens only alowed to wear turtlenecks, that baby music in the Mac commercials played on every street corner, attempting to have anthing that looks a bit like a iPhone punishable by death.[/QUOTE] :v:

Awww :( At least Greeks are genuinely nice people