Apple Surpasses Wal-Mart in Market Capitalization

[rdowns]

If Microsoft screws up their Courier tablet like they also screwed up Vista and also the Zune all bets off for how much Apple could be worth!

Apple's 205 Billion dollar value also puts more pressure on Microsoft to get the forthcoming product right which has not been their strength in the past!

Marcus

I think if Apple surpasses Microsoft, Ballmer will be retired.

 

[rodericrinehart]

Apple will not pass Microsoft anytime in the next few years. Windows 7 was a commercial success, WinPhone7 *has* to be better than the travesty that WinMo has become, the XBOX360 surged to the #1 console recently, Natal (if done right) looks to be pretty cool, and the Courier will be pretty cool, but totally different than the iPad, obviously.

I ordered my iPad 64GB WiFi for myself and a 16 GB for the wife. It will be my first apply product since my IIe when I was a child. I am stoked for it, it is going to be AWESOME, haters be damned. We would have 2 iPhones if it was on Verizon, but ATT does not cover us here.

Apple, Microsoft, and Google will hover in the 200-250 billion range and gobble up smaller companies. Each of them earns the VAST majority of their money selling a product the other one does not compete with. Windows/Office for Microsoft makes over 90% of their money, Search makes over 99% of El Goog's loot, and Apple is probably the most diversified of the Big 3 at the top with iMac, iPod, and iPhone each doing quite well.

 

[SPUY767]

Apple will not pass Microsoft anytime in the next few years. Windows 7 was a commercial success, WinPhone7 *has* to be better than the travesty that WinMo has become, the XBOX360 surged to the #1 console recently, Natal (if done right) looks to be pretty cool, and the Courier will be pretty cool, but totally different than the iPad, obviously.

I ordered my iPad 64GB WiFi for myself and a 16 GB for the wife. It will be my first apply product since my IIe when I was a child. I am stoked for it, it is going to be AWESOME, haters be damned. We would have 2 iPhones if it was on Verizon, but ATT does not cover us here.

Apple, Microsoft, and Google will hover in the 200-250 billion range and gobble up smaller companies. Each of them earns the VAST majority of their money selling a product the other one does not compete with. Windows/Office for Microsoft makes over 90% of their money, Search makes over 99% of El Goog's loot, and Apple is probably the most diversified of the Big 3 at the top with iMac, iPod, and iPhone each doing quite well.

Both the XBox and the PS3 are still a hundred miles behind Wii in total sales. MS just happened to sell more 360s in one month than Nintendo did Wii's. It'd be hard not to eventually. 360s have a failure rate of over 60%. I don't know what the Wii's failure rate is, but I'd bet it's about 0% since it's just a vertical gamecube with a funky controller. This means that there are many, many people who have bought multiple 360s You're statement is a perfect example of how something can be totally factual, yet utterly misleading.

 

[marksman]

Passing Wal-Mart is prettty amazing.

Apple's business existence has to be the most interesting one I can think of in my lifetime. they have experienced it all. Pioneering, real high highs and real low lows.

 

[marksman]

I hate Walmart - no, I LOATHE Walmart. Walmart's business tactics are abhorrent and simply demonstrate the lack of morals and sense of decency from the capitalist landscape. If you want to blame any one company for the outsourcing of jobs to China "trend", start with Walmart. Walmart has strong armed such American based companies as Rubbermaid to produce their products in China, then using their closed factories in the states as strongholds to build a new Walmart and employ those ex-Rubbermaid employees. Walmart threatened Rubbermaid that they would pull their products from their shelves, which is roughly 50-60% of Rubbermaid's revenue. When Rubbermaid refused years ago, Walmart followed through with their threat, which resulted in Rubbermaid caving in to keep their company.

These large companies that buy products in huge amounts for cheaper prices have put small businesses nearly out of competition. A small business doesn't have nearly enough capital as a company such as Walmart to supply the same or better products at competitive prices. This capitalist stronghold Walmart has developed over small businesses in America has resulted in the huge slant seen in the economic American topography that favors big businesses. The U.S. needs to examine the business tactics that these companies utilize as they have certainly resulted in the failed economy we are currently struggling to fight.

Could we stop with these hyper ignorant rants.

Wal-Mart didn't cause rubber-maid to go bankrupt. Rubber-Maid's management caused them to go bankrupt. Nothing more, nothing less. Spouting that nonsense really makes you look foolish and easily mislead.

 

[doctoree]

Wow I wonder if they will overtake MS. That would be amazing.

THis scenario may sound hard for Apple to achieve but maybe MSFT will be kind enough to help a bit by continuing their 5 or so year old tradition of releasing EPIC FAIL PRODUCTS.

 

[fishcove]

From Bob Lefsetz, one of the last men standing in the music business:

APPLE SURGES PAST WAL-MART TO BECOME 3RD MOST VALUABLE U.S. COMPANY

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/24351/

How does a mercurial bastard who ignores conventional wisdom end up running a company bigger than Wal-Mart?

Isn't it funny. Today's acts are told by managers and agents and labels to sell out, quick, to do it just like everybody else, but the big winner, Steve Jobs, does it his own way, listens to nobody, doesn't license Apple's technology, prices his products high and makes you believe your life will be empty without them.

Steve Jobs is a rock star.

You remember rock stars, don't you? Those people beholden to no one, who wrote their own rules? Who created music totally different from what came before, which people flocked to?

And Apple is Warner/Reprise. The old company. Run by Mo Ostin. You know, the one where every band was good. Sure, the ultimate recording might not capture the magic, but if it was on Warner, it was worth checking out. There might be some duds, like Apple TV, but the winners made it all worth it.

When Steve Jobs does his keynote, I get up early to see what he has to say, I watch the endless presentation unspool, a condensation by some tech reporter just will not do. I want more. The same way I wanted to know everything about Led Zeppelin and had to go see the Who perform "Tommy" at the Fillmore East.

The rabidity has left music and entered tech.

And who do we have to blame?

The boomers. So inured to their lifestyles that they don't want change, they just want it the way it used to be. Overpriced CDs and concerts performed by bands who perfected their music on a spreadsheet.

Steve Jobs specializes in selling us what we didn't even know we wanted. Remember when the music business used to do this?

Great Post!

 

[Gold89]

He's worth about $13 billion, I'd hardly call the man a loser. True, he had to sell his soul to MS, but $13 billion is nothing to sneeze at.

Yep, Dell is a very successful company and we should applaud both companies for doing well.

 

[Queso]

Well, that was short-lived. Walmart are now more than $10bn ahead of Apple again

 

[3282868]

Could we stop with these hyper ignorant rants.

Wal-Mart didn't cause rubber-maid to go bankrupt. Rubber-Maid's management caused them to go bankrupt. Nothing more, nothing less. Spouting that nonsense really makes you look foolish and easily mislead.

Example please. It's a fact, period.. and no, they're not "ignorant" nor "rants", if you don't like it, don't read it. Thank you.

Google "Walmart rubbermaid", you'll find many articles such as the one below:

WALMART'S DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

As Frontline showed, when WalMart first expanded through America as the low cost big-box store, it was a good partner with its (American) suppliers. In 1994, RubberMaid had a great relationship with WalMart because RubberMaid provided excellent quality, high valued items for a reasonable price and much of its product was sold through WalMart. Back then, RubberMaid was rated the #1 company in the US because it was able to compete on efficient, yet high quality products for the American marketplace - and WalMart helped as the largest retail outlet for RubberMaid products. Yet, when RubberMaid was forced to increase their prices due to the costs of their basic supplies, WalMart refused to accept the new prices and dropped many of the RubberMaid products from their stores. In a fairly short time the loss of WalMart as an outlet led to the demise of RubberMaid.

or this one, discussing the aftermath of Walmart's threats towards Rubbermaid during the mid-1990's after Rubbermaid merged with Newell and gave in to Walmart's business "tactics" with regard to Rubbermaid's future pricing:

Newell Rubbermaid is the largest producer of consumer rubber products in the United States, and Wal-Mart sells by far the largest volume of Rubbermaid products of any retail store. In January 2001, Joseph Galli was appointed the new chief executive officer of Rubbermaid, and he and his staff had an intensive series of meetings with Wal-Mart management on what products Rubbermaid should bring on line, including Wal-Mart's not-so-subtle suggestions about the price of the products. Since January 2001, Rubbermaid has shut down 69 out of its 400 facilities, and fired 11,000 workers. The equity research director at Associated Trust & Co., C. Mark Heaseldon, bluntly stated the reason, "To be able to meet the demands from key customers, like Wal-Mart ... [Rubbermaid has] to become competitive in price." He added that Galli would have to "shift about 50% of production to low-cost countries [China]." This could force the closure of an additional 131 Rubbermaid facilities, and the firing of an additional 20,000 workers [resulting in Walmart's opening of new locations in what were once small USA towns mostly employed by Rubbermaid]

or this one:

Rubbermaid’s economic problems date from 1994, when the cost of resin (a key ingredient in its plastic containers) rose suddenly by 80 percent, costing the company an additional $250 million. In response, Rubbermaid sought to raise the price of some of their products to compensate for the loss, and pleaded with Wal-Mart headquarters (which was then the largest retail outlet for Rubbermaid) to allow them to do so. Wal-Mart steadfastly refused, and responded by pulling Rubbermaid products off their shelves, and replacing them with those of Sterlite.

Rubbermaid saw its yearly earnings drop by 30 percent, before finally succumbing to Wal-Mart’s demands. However, it never financially recovered. Nearly in bankruptcy, Rubbermaid was absorbed by its rival, Newell, Inc., in 1999 ― a mere three years after Fortune magazine named Rubbermaid its “most admired company.” Since then, Newell Rubbermaid has been shedding plants and jobs to keep afloat. Since 2001, Newell Rubbermaid has shut down 69 of its 400 facilities, and fired over 11,000 of its employees

Should I go on? So again, I have facts to base my claims and "rants". Supporting your claims makes you look "foolish and easily mislead". Thanks.

 

[gnasher729]

Michael Dell's a loser.

I would be very happy to have one percent of the cash of that "loser"