Apple Rises to Third in Annual Fortune 500 List of America's Largest Companies

[MacRumors]

Apple has ranked third in the annual Fortune 500 list of the highest-revenue-generating companies based in the United States, with $265.5 billion revenue in fiscal 2018, trailing only Walmart and oil giant ExxonMobil.

Apple moved up one spot in this year's rankings, overtaking billionaire investor Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway.

Fortune's description of Apple:

Two thousand eighteen will be remembered as the year that Apple first achieved a market value of $1 trillion, as well as when growth in iPhones, Apple's largest single product by far, began to slow. Before the introduction of the iPod--the iPhone's precursor--Apple was a once-exciting computer maker. Now, only a retailer and an oil company are bigger. Its challenge: as consumers hang onto phones longer, Apple is repositioning itself as a services provider. Already iTunes, Apple Music, iCloud, and cuts from sales in its popular Apple Store generate billions of dollars of sales.

Apple has made the Fortune 500 list for 37 years and has now cracked the top 10 spots for seven consecutive years:

2019: 3rd
2018: 4th
2017: 3rd
2016: 3rd
2015: 5th
2014: 5th
2013: 6th
2012: 17th
2011: 35th
2010: 56th

Other notable technology companies in this year's Fortune 500 include Amazon in fifth, Google parent company Alphabet in 15th, and Microsoft in 26th.

Article Link: Apple Rises to Third in Annual Fortune 500 List of America's Largest Companies

 

[Dragonlord_66]

aPpLe iS DoOmeD ! WHaT !?11

 

[jona2125]

aPpLe iS DoOmeD ! WHaT !?11

The main thought process for that here internally at Apple is that they have done nothing but focus on climbing ladders as a company and losing foresight on consumer products. It's been dark here the last few years

 

[Lone Deranger]

aPpLe iS DoOmeD ! WHaT !?11

Doomed? Certainly not financially. Creatively they've lost their spark. And that's putting it mildly.

 

[Fender2112]

Well, I can safely say iMac & Mac Pro sales didn't contribute much to all that revenue.

I don't have a problem with diversity. But damn, Apple did you forget your roots?

 

[swingerofbirch]

I'm not sure it's a good sign that they're banking on what they seem to me to be the worst at historically. It just doesn't seem in their nature to provide great services. I think they're better at charging for services and marketing them. I remember working in Apple phone sales trying to upsell MobileMe—the audacity of it. I mean if I were giving the true elevator pitch it would have been "It's $99 to make things work better across your devices." The reply should have been "Why don't they work well out of the box?"

I feel like that's true today. My parents get error messages on their phones where they think the phone itself is out of space, when it's iCloud that is out of space and they don't even want iCloud back-ups, etc. I feel like they're really nickel-and-diming their customers and even confusing them.

I will say I do enjoy iMessage and Find my Friends, but those aren't billed services. And for ones where they do bill, such as iCloud Photos, I think Google Photos is far superior. Phone back-up, though, isn't possible outside Apple's services.

 

[stonekirby]

I think their wealth is derived from all the different Apple Logo's they're designing nowadays.

Jokes aside, love them logo's though

 

[EVGabe]

Much easier to accomplish when charging $35 for a Lightning cable.

 

[repoman016]

I wonder if this includes people that work at the shops/food courts/shuttle services/security inside apples buildings. My guess is no since they are outside vendors but you never know

 

[Remy149]

The main thought process for that here internally at Apple is that they have done nothing but focus on climbing ladders as a company and losing foresight on consumer products. It's been dark here the last few years

You say this but I the Apple products I’ve bought in recent years are the best pieces of tech I’ve ever owned. Especially the series 4 Apple Watch

 

[iapplelove]

I’ve been working at CVS corporate for almost 12 years now, the company absolutely murders the competition

 

[Remy149]

Doomed? Certainly not financially. Creatively they've lost their spark. And that's putting it mildly.

If that’s the case why don’t they have any real competition to iPads, airpods or Apple Watch

 

[Khedron]

Based on the way Apple fans rush to use profit as evidence of quality, I assume this news means everyone's iPhones magically just got a specs boost?

 

[now i see it]

and guess what a company with $265.5 Billion in annual revenue wants more than anything else?

More money.

 

[Baymowe335]

Well, I can safely say iMac & Mac Pro sales didn't contribute much to all that revenue.

I don't have a problem with diversity. But damn, Apple did you forget your roots?

Apple’s Mac business did $25.5B in sales in 2018. That is more than all of Netflix and EBay combined.

 

[fathergll]

Interesting that they were 56th and had superior pro computer options.

 

[Baymowe335]

For all intents and purposes, Apple is the largest company because they have the most earning power.

Apple made $60B of net income (profit) in 2018.

The second most net income was about half that at $30B by Google.

Think about being twice as profitable as the second most profitable company. Although the market has not yet even given Apple full credit for their enormous earning power, it Apple has traded as high as $1.1T in market capitalization.

 

[Suttree]

Doomed? Certainly not financially. Creatively they've lost their spark. And that's putting it mildly.

Bingo. 3D Touch, Force Touch, Taptic Engine, A chip, T chip, W chip, H chip, W chip, S package, Touch Bar, Portrait photos, Live photos, Face ID, Apple Pay, iWatch EKG crap, HomePod beamforming tech crap, Metal 2, Swift, APFS, ProMotion, TrueTone. Oh yeah. iWatch rubber bands. LUL.

You notice Samsung doesn’t trifle with such nonsense. They give us a curved screen, a camera dot, and a huge battery. That’s all you need.

 

[travoose]

I'm not sure it's a good sign that they're banking on what they seem to me to be the worst at historically. It just doesn't seem in their nature to provide great services. I think they're better at charging for services and marketing them. I remember working in Apple phone sales trying to upsell MobileMe—the audacity of it. I mean if I were giving the true elevator pitch it would have been "It's $99 to make things work better across your devices." The reply should have been "Why don't they work well out of the box?"

I feel like that's true today. My parents get error messages on their phones where they think the phone itself is out of space, when it's iCloud that is out of space and they don't even want iCloud back-ups, etc. I feel like they're really nickel-and-diming their customers and even confusing them.

I will say I do enjoy iMessage and Find my Friends, but those aren't billed services. And for ones where they do bill, such as iCloud Photos, I think Google Photos is far superior. Phone back-up, though, isn't possible outside Apple's services.

Phone backup is possible without a billed Apple service. I backup my phone to iTunes on my Mac, it is even more secure than backing it up via iCloud.

 

[Baymowe335]

Based on the way Apple fans rush to use profit as evidence of quality, I assume this news means everyone's iPhones magically just got a specs boost?

They are already the most powerful all around phone available. The A12 is industry leading.
[doublepost=1558013659][/doublepost]

Bingo. 3D Touch, Force Touch, Taptic Engine, A chip, T chip, W chip, H chip, W chip, S package, Touch Bar, Portrait photos, Live photos, Face ID, Apple Pay, iWatch EKG crap, HomePod beamforming tech crap, Metal 2, Swift, APFS, ProMotion, TrueTone. Oh yeah. iWatch rubber bands. LUL.

You notice Samsung doesn’t trifle with such nonsense. They give us a curved screen, a camera dot, and a huge battery. That’s all you need.

Yeah, that innovative Samsung. Just look at that Galaxy Fold! Oh wait, you can’t.

 

[ipponrg]

If that’s the case why don’t they have any real competition to iPads, airpods or Apple Watch

I don’t consider iPads as huge of a market as Apple Watch or AirPods. I think the AirPods are definitely encouraging more competition, so that is just a wait and see. Apple Watch has the advantage in that Apple controls its ecosystem.

It’ll be more difficult for other hardware watch manufacturers to get that seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem

 

[RogerWilco]

What’s with the odd graphic? Looks like a tumor-riddled Apple — OK, perhaps it is appropriate.

 

[jona2125]

You say this but I the Apple products I’ve bought in recent years are the best pieces of tech I’ve ever owned. Especially the series 4 Apple Watch

I'm sure they are. Though I wasn't saying anything more than what's shared here with my co-workers at Apple. I'm not saying the tech isn't good, it's the lack of investment into true potentials that are lackluster. Teams here have been getting condensed because "think different" is meaningless to anyone who makes a final decision if it doesn't directly increase brand icon. Trust me people listen to every little thing that gets said from consumers on what they want. They spend tons of effort to actually farm that data and very rarely do any general consumer needs get met. It's more of a what they think the consumer will want attitude. And sadly to say it, the general consumer base of these products are just happy to get what they are given and don't see beyond what can actually be done for them.

 

[Rocketman]

iPhone (iOS) is a beall device. The chance of it being superceeded by some as yet unidentified "imagined" product is slim, at least anytime in the next few years. It is enough that Apple has high margins, buys back stock in huge amounts, operates in a far more favorable tax and capital investment environment, and has singularly mastered international commerce in ALL countries simultaneously.

No other top 20 company does any significant fraction of that. Buy AAPL on annual weakness. Watch the 200 day SMA.

Shoulda gone private at $88 . . . . see my posts.

 

[shieldcy]

I think Apple is not as bad as some people say.

I love what they did with their new iPad Pro, Watch, the Homepod, AirPods. These are all great devices.

On the other hand, iPhone is not improving much lately. Hopefully that will change. Either the iOS or the hardware somehow.
Same goes to Macbook which is maybe the biggest disappointment for me regarding the improvements. Apple, please work a little bit on macOS and the laptops in general.