Neither a candle for an angel nor a poker for the devil
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Apple is said to be bigger than Microsoft
THE US PRESS has taken wing this morning, running stories that Apple is now bigger than Microsoft.
This of course is seen as the ultimate vindication of the hippy geek business model against that of the grey-flannel suited, evil monopolists in the Wintel alliance who locked users into walled gardens where they could only buy one type of hardware and one brand of software. Yeah, well the US trade press does not get the concept of irony either, and neither does Apple's unpaid press office at the New York Times.
"But the click-clack of the keyboard has ceded ground to the swipe of a finger across a smartphone's touch screen," the New York Times printed.
Generally you need to get a passport to enter Apple's fantasy logic but this morning there should have been wholesale sackings at IT magazines throughout the world that reported that Apple is now somehow 'bigger' than Microsoft.
The fact is that Apple's shares are now worth a lot of dosh and worth a bit more than the Vole's. But does that mean that Microsoft is smaller than Apple, or that the company is bigger? Um, no.
If that was the case then in a bad day of trading Apple might fall back down to the same 'size', in terms of market capitalisation, as it was before the Ipod and Iphone fads began.
Are Apple's financials in a better state than Microsoft's? Does it make more money? Er, no.
Microsoft's annual net profit was $14.6 billion, compared with $5.7 billion for Apple. Microsoft also reported larger full-year revenues of $58.4 billion, compared with Apple at $36.5 billion. So Apple makes a third less money than the Vole each year.
Microsoft also has quite a bit more cash and short-term investments, $39.7 billion to Apple's $23.1 billion.
So in what way is Apple bigger? More people believe in Apple's future ability to make lots of money. Some of the biggest shareholders are Apple fanbois too, who buy anything with an Apple logo on it at any price.
But for the last few years they have been completely right. This has pushed the price of Apple's shares incredibly high.
So what you have is the 'value' of the company as opposed to what it does or makes being trumpeted as the 'size' of the company.
It is true that Microsoft is in a bit of trouble. It has consistently missed the ball in second guessing the way technology is running. It also lacks a charismatic leader who can flog dog poo to consumers and say it is ice cream. But the Vole's financials are still what Steve Jobs can only dream about. µ
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Well..
True. I guess there must be some reason ppl are willing to pay as much...
I just can't figure out why.
I'll have no choice but to have peace with those facts. :/
Greetz.
Actually it does count - as public companies, their worth is what people will pay for them, and that is determined by boring stuff like profitability, reserves etc etc. Profits = good. Capitalism at work.
A Rolls Royce might have cost you £100,000, but if all you can get on the 2nd hand market is £500, then your Rolls Royce is worth £500. Just so happens that right now, MS is the Rolls Royce.
Nick is right. Apple isnt bigger, only its dream is.
keep dreaming fan boys! the dictatorship claimed as "communism" also broke down cause it was selling propaganda, and dreams that WERE NOT met with facts.
If not microsoft, then some other company, maybe google, will crush dictator regimes like Apple, how?
With having an open mind.
Apple is a revolution !?
Revolutions are supposed to be about freedom. Numbskull :) This is not a revolution. This is a plague :D.
Good article nick!!
@ marc123
A lot of those things you listed weren't flops.
1) Vista-This was a victim of bad press, Win 7 is pretty much the EXACT same OS....go figure
2) Microsoft Mobile-How is this a flop? Its only on a select number of phones, maybe totaling 3 or 4 models
3) Zune-Not even close. I guess we can call MACs a flop since they have less that 92% of the market right?
4) Bing-still gaining traction
5) Microsoft Surface-only meant for restaurants and the like, not a normal consumer product
6) Xbox-REALLY? the XBOX is a flop? Please....
7) Microsoft Windows Tablet edition-Meh
8) Windows CE-Not really...
9) Microsoft Money-Meh
10) Microsoft TV-I guess this just morphed into Media Center, so again, not really
11) Live Meeting web conferencing software- Never heard of it
12) Windows Home Server-Probably
13) Microsoft Automotive-Really cant find any info to back up your claim on this
...why the author has quoted the 2009 financial results.
Because they are the last COMPLETE set of financial results filed by Apple.
All those financial measures (revenue, profit, etc) are measured yearly, NOT quarterly.
Why has nick quoted Apples 2008/2009 financials.
Has currently $40 Billion in cash in the bank which is the GDP of New Zealand!!!!!
It currently made Q2 $13.50 Billion Turnover and has a $3.05 billion profit for 3 months!!! thats nearly $1 Billion profit per month!!!!!
Its unbelievable how so called journalists can print old incorrect info then look stupid backing it. Do your research NICK you look stupid!!!!!
The only OS I care about doesn't even have have a market share. The bigger they get the more greedy they get.
Well Microsoft has had so may flops this last 10 years see below:
1) Vista
2) Microsoft Mobile
3) Zune
4) Bing
5) Microsoft Surface
6) Xbox
7) Microsoft Windows Tablet edition
8) Windows CE
9) Microsoft Money
10) Microsoft TV
11) Live Meeting web conferencing software
12) Windows Home Server
13) Microsoft Automotive
14) ActiMates including toys like barney
Well Microsoft has had so may flops this last 10 years see below:
1) Vista
2) Microsoft Mobile
3) Zune
4) Bing
5) Microsoft Surface
6) Xbox
7) Microsoft Windows Tablet edition
8) Windows CE
9) Microsoft Money
10) Microsoft TV
11) Live Meeting web conferencing software
12) Windows Home Server
13) Microsoft Automotive
14) ActiMates including toys like barney
Apple actually made Q2 2010 Revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion.
So if is this revenue carries on for the rest of 2010 Apple will announce below:
$54 Billion turnover
$12.28 Billion profit
$52.28 Billion in cash in the bank
The above does not count the $1 Billion turnover for every 1 million ipads sold!!!!!!
From Wikipedia: ..."Market capitalization represents the public consensus on the value of a company's equity." and "Note that market capitalization is a market estimate of a company's value, based on perceived future prospects, economic and monetary conditions."
Words like estimate and consensus hardy mean the same as size. Also, Market caps can be wrong or manipulated and in the end market cap is speculation.
Determining a company's true size with speculation is a fools game. Look back to the dot-com bust of 2000 for more insight.
I could ask, "Why hasn't he Inq blocked this two-bit troll?", but I already know the answer. You generate a lot of hits following his every story and word like a teenage girl on a Hannah Montana web site. I could complain about your infantile whining, but the entertainment value of your silly rants far outweighs the annoyance of your primary school obsession with Nick.
This is basically selling on the future of Apple. Didn't Steve Jobs have the most tenacious and highly recurring type of cancer, pancreatic cancer?
Only fools think they can really estimate the future but then this is all about the stock market which everyone knows is prone to falling flat on it's face.
Apple's appeal seems to be for those who want to use a computer without having to make any effort at learning. Thus, they're content within narrow limits and accept constraints like on the original Mac, completely closed box, and having to ASK the system merely to eject a diskette. It's only thanks to the seriousness and relative freedom initiated by IBM in the open box PC that "gutless wonder" Apple can now modify a BSD and run it on Intel hardware to keep up the pretense that Apple is a "technology leader". Without Chinese production, Apple is nothing but plastic cases.
(Yes, I know about video editing, but the Amiga did it better, with real hardware multi-processing.)
MARKET CAPITALIZATION. A figure which you conveniently left out of your Apple-bashing, fact-skewing story.
Apple's market cap is higher than M$'s.
End of story.
WHY hasn't the Inq fired this two-bit hack yet!??!?!?!?!?!
The BBC ran this story, so it must be true. Please stop peddling facts; you're way out of line!
Apple currently has 909.94 million shares versus Microsoft's 8.76 billion. Hardly the same size or total value, aren't they?