Apple 'now visible in Microsoft's rearview mirror' as value swells

[AppleInsider]

With Apple's annual revenue more than doubling since 2005, a new analysis looks at the possibility of the Mac maker surpassing its chief rival, Microsoft, as the world's most valuable technology company.

Gabriel Madway with Reuters offered a look at Apple's astounding growth, which has caused the Cupertino, Calif., company's market value to surge to $180 billion. Microsoft remains much larger, with a $250 billion market cap, but it is Apple's rapid growth that has raised the question of whether it could exceed its rival to the north and become the most valuable technology company in the world.

If AAPL stock were to hit $280, that would reportedly give the company a market value of $250 billion -- equaling that of Microsoft in its current state. Of course, that's a big 'if,' but with continued rapid iPhone expansion, growth of the Mac platform, and the anticipated introduction of a tablet device in the first quarter of 2010, some believe it's possible within the next year.

UBS Investment Research's Maynard J. Um believes Apple will hit $280, and analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray has a price target of $277 for Apple. In addition, analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets has forecast that AAPL will hit $275 in the next 12 months. For comparison, analysts believe Microsoft could trade as high as $36 in the next year, which would reportedly bring its market cap to $320 billion.

"Apple is now visible in Microsoft's rearview mirror," Madway's report said.

Despite Apple's gains, Microsoft is still growing at a brisk pace. Since 2005, its revenue has risen 47 percent, to $58.4 billion. But Apple, in the same frame, more than doubled, reaching $36.5 billion. Earnings per share for the Mac maker saw a four-fold increase to $6.29.

Last quarter was record setting for Apple, which saw profits surge 46 percent on record sales of 3 million Macs and 7.4 million iPhones. The company's profits for its fourth financial quarter of 2009 were $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share, on sales of $9.87 billion.

[desarc]

Steve Ballmer must have some really lousy accountants for this to be considered a "rounding" error.

[MacTripper]

"Apple is now visible in Microsoft's rearview mirror"

It's more like the other way around if you ask me.


Windows 7 still needs anti-malware software running (8 out of 10 viruses got in) and it's going to cripple the performance of all these cheap Win7 netbooks people are going to buy this holiday season. A nice shaft in the @ss again from your friends in Redmond.

Same old Windows, just a new face.

And now you can't run Snow Leopard on those Atom netbooks either.

hahaha!

[teckstud]

HAHA> how can you see in your rear view mirror when you're 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.

But on a more serious note:

http://earthlink.com.com/8301-13506_...part=earthlink

[Quadra 610]

Whole different ballgame now . . . with the tablet just around the corner.

[mstone]

If MSFT market cap decreases while APPL increases they might be equal at even a lower figure and sooner.

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by teckstud

HAHA> how you see in your rear view mirror when your 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.

But on a more serious note:

http://earthlink.com.com/8301-13506_...part=earthlink

You still don't understand Apple's market, or the real significance of that 10%.

Nokia also has dominant marketshare. Now compare your average Nokia smartphone to the iPhone.

Windows is a bargain-basement brand, and sells like one.

[mstone]

Originally Posted by teckstud

HAHA> how you see in your rear view mirror when your 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.]

Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear!

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Pure fanboyism.

Can you blame the Apple fanboys? They've been right all along.

[fulldecent]

Originally Posted by teckstud

HAHA> how you see in your rear view mirror when your 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.

But on a more serious note:

http://earthlink.com.com/8301-13506_...part=earthlink

You don't. You look when you are 59% vs. 41% ahead.

http://finance.google.com

[Roc Ingersol]

Apple's stock is too easy to manipulate for short-term gain for it to grow that high that fast and stay for any reasonable length of time.

I can see them crossing within the next year or two, but it'll be more in the middle; somewhere around 220B.

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by mstone

Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear!

Oh. Snap.

Well done.





Fuuuuu!!! Rounding error, rounding error, rounding error, rounding error, rounding error!!!

[Psych_guy]

Originally Posted by teckstud

HAHA> how you see in your rear view mirror when your 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.

But on a more serious note:

http://earthlink.com.com/8301-13506_...part=earthlink

You're funny. You get all jacked up and accuse people of calling you names, and then you turn around and call satisfied Apple customers "fanboys/fanbois, etc."

Does that mean we can call you all variations of your moniker and you won't complain?

[wizard69]

Let's face it the important thing is that Apple survives as a company that can continue to innovate and move tech in new directions. Overtaking MS doesn't help with that at all. In fact it can lead to Wall Street putting a lot of pressure on a company.

A ravenous Wall Street has ruined more than a few companies. If focus is taken off products and R&D then Apple gets screwed. Even a CEO of the decade would have trouble dealling with to many demands from the markets.


Dave

[MacTripper]

Originally Posted by mstone

Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear!

Actually if Apple is being seen in Microsoft's rear view mirror, it's because Apple screwed up and let Microsoft catch up again.

You see, we Macheads have a twisted view of reality.

We expect our computers to work for us and not us for the computer.


I know it sounds strange, but I've never swore at my computer, or threw it across the room, or beat the monitor with the keyboard like I've seen many Windows users do.

I've certainly haven't gone to jail because a virus loaded my Windows based computer with "frameware".

http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/11/0...-Your-Computer

[mclarenf1]

Now this is the article I have been wanting to see written for a long time. It will happen soon enough and be headlines news AROUND THE WORLD. You don't have to have a 90% install base of a crap piece of operating system to topple Microsoft, you just have to be relevant on several fronts. That is exactly what Apple is.

Once this perception is given by the media and equally the public, it will be a huge snowball effect for Apple adoption. They will suddenly be seen as a completely relevant player by far more people.

Cool deal. I hope it happens within Steve Jobs lifetime. It's not THE solution for them or the silver bullet by any means, but it will be a major milestone and will unavoidably be recognized.

Good job Apple..... overall, good job! Keep up the pace!

[joeYYY]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

You still don't understand Apple's market, or the real significance of that 10%.

Nokia also has dominant marketshare. Now compare your average Nokia smartphone to the iPhone.

Windows is a bargain-basement brand, and sells like one.

Yes, this is a good example, Nokia sells 15 times more phones than apple, but apple is still making more profit from the phones it sells than what Nokia does.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...mpaign_id=yhoo

As for MS, for the time being, apple can't expect to catch up much on the PC market share percentage. That's as long as corporations continue to blindly buy truckloads of PCs. I don't think that this will change very soon.

To conclude, if you just compare unit numbers it will take a long long time for apple to catch up to MS (or Nokia). However, for these companies the real game is the bottom line: profits.

[Quadra 610]

Let's not forget the latest . . .

http://blog.telephonyonline.com/unfi...handset-maker/

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

You still don't understand Apple's market, or the real significance of that 10%.

Nokia also has dominant marketshare. Now compare your average Nokia smartphone to the iPhone.

Windows is a bargain-basement brand, and sells like one.

No I understand the whole "premium ", Lexus, BMW analogy or what have you. But why must we contantly compare them then if they are so different in their goals. Why are Apple fans so stuck in this "vengeance is mine" mindset with MS and it's profits and its share. It's so ridiculous!!!!!!

[cwfrederick]

Originally Posted by teckstud

HAHA> how you see in your rear view mirror when your 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.

But on a more serious note:

http://earthlink.com.com/8301-13506_...part=earthlink

please dont engage this guy with his bs. he knows its bs and he just says it to be a dick.

can somebody please explain to me why teckstud is still here? he never has anything to say that isnt negative and obviously has ulterior motives. and i distinctly remember seeing that he was banned not too long ago. WTF is going on here? im tired of seeing this d bag dominating all the threads with his BS.

[anantksundaram]

2012.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by Psych_guy

Does that mean we can call you all variations of your moniker and you won't complain?

You should reconsider using words like 'moniker.'( Sets him off, since he thinks he is getting abused...)

[SpamSandwich]

$275 to $300 seems a bit optimistic to me, but Jim Cramer (ever the goofball) is calling for $300 now. I can imagine $250... maybe... by next year.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

2012.

You forgot the link.

2012

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Psych_guy

You're funny. You get all jacked up and accuse people of calling you names, and then you turn around and call satisfied Apple customers "fanboys/fanbois, etc."

Does that mean we can call you all variations of your moniker and you won't complain?

If you know me, I could care less what you call me- really. I never whine about it but I will respond when I am attacked.

And yes I call pure fantasy for what it is when it comes to this rear view mirror analogy.
It's more like Romper Room's Magic Mirror: " I can see Quadra, and solipsism, and anonymouse, and anantksundaram, and ....."

[alphajack7]

Does anybody think that Apple will someday (relatively soon) move into "search" (a la Google)?

I know it's not hardware, but there's lots of ad revenue available.

[CREB]

Apple 'now visible in Microsoft's rearview mirror' as value swells

Let's hope Microsoft doesn’t find any corporate VIAGRA!

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

UBS Investment Research's Maynard J. Um believes Apple will hit $280, and analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray has a price target of $277 for Apple. In addition, analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets has forecast that AAPL will hit $275 in the next 12 months.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... Heard all that before in December 2007... Analyst predicting stock price of $250.00 when it was over $199.00 and then it lost a little, went back up, went back down, down a little more, down a little more, while I waited for the rebound that never came. Instead it went down to $77.00 and took all of 2008 and nearly all of 2009 JUST to get back where it was two years ago.

While a $275.00 price target would be nice... I'm definitely keeping my eye on it day to day and any trend downward or loss in value and I'm getting out at least keeping some of the profit it took 2 years, well, with the "crash" and subsequent 2 year climb, 4 years to make!

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by fulldecent

You don't. You look when you are 59% vs. 41% ahead.

http://finance.google.com

Microsoft's growth channels moving forward are being outplayed by rivals on many fronts, including Apple.

The days of one-size fits all for all computing needs are over.

Smart phone revenue moving forward for Microsoft is very lean.
Search engine/advertising revenue moving forward for Microsoft is very lean.
Console revenue moving forward for Microsoft is very lean.

With the growing swell of OS X computing platforms and with the growth of WebKit on all platforms Microsoft's OS dominance in the financial sector is waning.

Yes, Microsoft will continue to get a stream of revenue from OEM licensing, backoffice, MSOffice and other business tools, but all of those areas are actually eroding, not expanding.

From a financial aspect, Microsoft is contracting.

[MacTripper]

Originally Posted by cwfrederick

please dont engage this guy with his bs. he knows its bs and he just says it to be a dick.

can somebody please explain to me why teckstud is still here? he never has anything to say that isnt negative and obviously has ulterior motives. and i distinctly remember seeing that he was banned not too long ago. WTF is going on here? im tired of seeing this d bag dominating all the threads with his BS.

Then put him on your ignore list.

check out your user CP.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by alphajack7

Does anybody think that Apple will someday (relatively soon) move into "search" (a la Google)?

I know it's not hardware, but there's lots of ad revenue available.

No- because those ads are flash. Until wither Apple buys Adobe or Adobe play nice, how would it make money off flash when it discourages internet flash use.

[Gwydion]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

It's more like the other way around if you ask me.


Windows 7 still needs anti-malware software running (8 out of 10 viruses got in) and it's going to cripple the performance of all these cheap Win7 netbooks people are going to buy this holiday season. A nice shaft in the @ss again from your friends in Redmond.

Same old Windows, just a new face.

And now you can't run Snow Leopard on those Atom netbooks either.

hahaha!

Mmm, Firefox with 15 tabs opened, 3 Explorer windows, WHS Console and Microsoft Security Essentials -> using 12% CPU which 8% is FireFox.

Better check the facts first

[LuisDias]

Originally Posted by teckstud

No- because those ads are flash. Until wither Apple buys Adobe or Adobe play nice, how would it make money off flash when it discourages internet flash use.

Not really, Teckstud. Search ads are not flash, look at google ads. But the idea of having Apple in the search business is hilariously wrong. It's just too much of an investment for nothing more than some 3 to 4% of share, tops. It's just not worth it, unless there are ulterior motives. Let Google have it, they are doing a fine job at it.

[cwfrederick]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Then put him on your ignore list.

check out your user CP.

thanks buddy, but ignore lists dont work when people are constantly responding to the negative comments that teckstud makes.

[Zoolook]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

It's more like the other way around if you ask me.


Windows 7 still needs anti-malware software running (8 out of 10 viruses got in)

I know what you're referring to here and, er... no, 8 out of 10 malware applications that were manually executed by a user in administration mode still affected Win7.

Even Windows cannot account for stupid users.

[iGod 2.0]

Apple is going to get that milestone. Add another one to the list!!

[MacTripper]

Originally Posted by Gwydion

Mmm, Firefox with 15 tabs opened, 3 Explorer windows, WHS Console and Microsoft Security Essentials -> using 12% CPU which 8% is FireFox.

Better check the facts first

Your facts speak for themselves.

Now disable your anti-malware and come back with the results. (visit a few pron sites along the way)



Me: OS X, Firefox, VMWare, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Ubuntu, Windows 7, OpenOffice, Aperture, iPhoto (with over 8000 images) iTunes visualizer 3x (OSX, Vista and XP), chess, Google Earth and a Warptunnel screen saver as my desktop.

Processor used 150% (two cores) on a 3 year old machine too. Cost? $1200 vs $700 "netbook"? hahhaha!! OS preference? I run them ALL!!!

And no anti-malware running either because I don't let Windows get on the net, those beetches are sandboxed good!

[monstrosity]

Originally Posted by teckstud

HAHA> how can you see in your rear view mirror when you're 90% vs 10% ahead - I ask you? pure fanboyism.

But on a more serious note:

http://earthlink.com.com/8301-13506_...part=earthlink

You really don get it do you.

In the past many people just like yourself told me I was crazy for predicting aapl to exceed msft. There's a big fat "I TOLD YA SO" with all your names on it coming soon!
10 years from the introduction of OSX was my original prediction, not far off the mark if I do say so myself.


You can call me nostradamus if you like

[Gwydion]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Your facts speak for themselves.

Now disable your anti-malware and come back with the results.

Or I haven't wrote my last post very well because my bad English or you haven't understood very well.

[vinea]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Then put him on your ignore list.

check out your user CP.

Doesn't work. I just nuked my ignore list because it doesn't really matter when a gazillion people respond to him. So why not join in the "fun" to berate him as is deserved?