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    Apple Ahead of Ms

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    Avinash Kumar
    1) Apple has, for the first time, surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable tech company in the world based on market capitalization, despite having less cash on hand and generating less revenue than Microsoft. 2) The article examines the vast array of products and services offered by Microsoft compared to Apple's more focused lineup, noting that while Microsoft touches many different industries, Apple's philosophy is to offer simplicity and eliminate unnecessary products. 3) Although Apple is smaller in size and revenue than Microsoft, the market valuing it higher represents a changing of the guard and affirmation that Apple is currently leading the technology industry.

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    Apple Ahead of Ms

    Uploaded by

    Avinash Kumar
    37 views3 pages
    1) Apple has, for the first time, surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable tech company in the world based on market capitalization, despite having less cash on hand and generating less revenue than Microsoft. 2) The article examines the vast array of products and services offered by Microsoft compared to Apple's more focused lineup, noting that while Microsoft touches many different industries, Apple's philosophy is to offer simplicity and eliminate unnecessary products. 3) Although Apple is smaller in size and revenue than Microsoft, the market valuing it higher represents a changing of the guard and affirmation that Apple is currently leading the technology industry.

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    1) Apple has, for the first time, surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable tech company in the world based on market capitalization, despite having less cash on hand and generating less revenue than Microsoft. 2) The article examines the vast array of products and services offered by Microsoft compared to Apple's more focused lineup, noting that while Microsoft touches many different industries, Apple's philosophy is to offer simplicity and eliminate unnecessary products. 3) Although Apple is smaller in size and revenue than Microsoft, the market valuing it higher represents a changing of the guard and affirmation that Apple is currently leading the technology industry.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    37 views3 pages

    Apple Ahead of Ms

    Uploaded by

    Avinash Kumar
    1) Apple has, for the first time, surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable tech company in the world based on market capitalization, despite having less cash on hand and generating less revenue than Microsoft. 2) The article examines the vast array of products and services offered by Microsoft compared to Apple's more focused lineup, noting that while Microsoft touches many different industries, Apple's philosophy is to offer simplicity and eliminate unnecessary products. 3) Although Apple is smaller in size and revenue than Microsoft, the market valuing it higher represents a changing of the guard and affirmation that Apple is currently leading the technology industry.

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    of 3

    c 

      
        
    
    BY DAN NOSOWITZi 
    
    

    Microsoft has, for the first time, been beaten in market cap by Apple. At the close of the
    market today, Apple sat at $222.12 billion, a gain of 1.8%, while Microsoft went down 1% to
    $219.18 billion. That makes Apple, according to market cap, the most valuable tech
    company in the world. Yet compared to Microsoft, Apple has both less cash on hand ($23
    billion vs. $35.7 billion) and less revenue ($42.9 billion vs. $58.4 billion). So the fact that
    the market has valued Apple higher is big news indeed.
    That Apple has, improbably and at long last, passed Microsoft in market value has everyone
    looking more closely at the two companies. In the early years of personal computing (like,
    20 years ago. Ancient history, right?), the rivalry between the two formed the basis of the
    industry's narrative. But now, the industry's changed in more ways than can be neatly
    summed up in a wistful paragraph, and it's not even a given that Apple and Microsoft are
    competitors. Rather than trying to examine the ever-changing facets of each business as a
    whole, let's look at something more concrete -- their products -- as a measure of where the
    two tech giants stand right now.
    Microsoft is massive, and like some kind of funhouse mirror gets more massive the closer
    you look. But it is still essentially a software company. The two biggest product lines at
    Microsoft are Windows, the world's most popular computer operating system (found on
    nine out of 10 computers), and Office, a suite of productivity tools including Word, Excel,
    and PowerPoint. One of them is probably running in the background right now on your
    machine, PC or Mac.
    Windows is the keystone of the Platform Products and Services Division, which also
    includes Windows Live, a service made up of mostly web apps like Hotmail, Messenger, and
    SkyDrive; Bing, a search engine, and the accompanying Bing Maps; the cable news channel
    MSNBC; the online magazine Slate; Microsoft Visual Studio, a suite of programming tools;
    Amalga, a healthcare information system for hospitals; and the assorted software under the
    Windows Server System umbrella, among many, many others. Microsoft currently supports
    a litany of OSes, including Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Kin, Windows CE, and Zune,
    with Windows Phone 7 to come shortly, not to mention that Microsoft has to support older
    versions of Windows like Vista and XP that can still be found on netbook or budget
    computers.
    In the entertainment section, they've got DirectX; Windows Media Center; Silverlight,
    which is used for streaming video, including the most recent Olympics; and the
    accompanying software for their comparatively meager line of hardware. There's Zune, with
    its Zune Marketplace (a subscription-based digital music store), its line of portable media
    players, and, soon, integration with Windows Phone 7. There's Xbox, with its Xbox Live
    online gaming community, huge library of games, media abilities, and Xbox 360 hardware.
    There's Surface, a groundbreaking touch interface that's been allowed to lay fallow, living its
    life as little more than a perennial tech demo. Microsoft also has a well-regarded line of
    accessories like keyboards and mice.
    Frankly, that list is barely the tip of the iceberg--Microsoft also has a serious influence in
    alternative energies, education, and enterprise software. The latter especially is a huge
    department with all kinds of analytical tools and systems. But it gives you an idea of just
    how all-encompassing Microsoft really is. In different departments, they're competing with
    entirely different companies in all corners of the tech industry.
    Microsoft products are serviced in several different ways: software is serviced through
    Microsoft by phone or email, but hardware is often the purview of the specific hardware
    manufacturer, especially in the case of PCs.
    Apple, by contrast, has three laptops in varying sizes, one all-in-one desktop, one mini
    desktop, and one tower desktop. All six run the same OS, also made by Apple, and include
    Apple's iLife software suite. Then there's the three mobile devices that run Apple's second
    OS, iPhone OS: the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Finally, there's the media hardware: the
    three "legacy" iPods (Classic, Nano, and Shuffle) and the mostly ignored Apple TV. Apple
    also sells accessories for these devices, including a wireless router, monitor, and keyboard
    and mouse. In terms of software, Apple has the two OSes, plus iTunes and its media store,
    and the App Store for its iPhone OS devices. They sell and service all of that stuff in Apple
    Stores. Really, that's about it. †  I forgot one important product--Apple's line of
    creative software, including Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, which are incredibly successful
    and can be considered the standard in that industry. Thanks to the commenters and readers
    for pointing that out.
    Apple is startlingly narrow in their scope, at least in comparison. More focused on both
    hardware and the consumer (rather than enterprise) side of tech than Microsoft, Apple's
    product lines are thus much easier to understand. You can take a glance at the homepages of
    the two companies to see the difference; Microsoft's list of products runs to the dozens and
    includes several I've never heard of, while Apple has seven buttons corresponding to their
    products, all of which (MacBook, iPod, iMac, etc) are instantly distinctive and familiar.
    Despite a couple duds (I'm looking at you, Apple TV and Mac Mini), Apple's philosophy is
    both simple and focused on simplicity: "Get rid of the crappy stuff."
    I barely scratched the surface in five paragraphs about Microsoft, while in a single
    paragraph about Apple, I feel like I've pretty much covered everything.
    The ˜ 
    calls the market cap valuation a "changing of the guard." It is--in
    about twelve different ways. The companies are so different these days that it's hard to know
    what's most momentous; this isn't Pepsi overcoming Coke. Is it simple scope defeating
    broad? Consumer over enterprise? A triumph of superior marketing? The power of a cult of
    personality? The answer is yes. Since the introduction of the iPod, Apple has captured
    mindshare in ways Microsoft only dreams of. Microsoft is an amorphous blob of a
    corporation, with a capital C--they make essential products, certainly, but without brand
    loyalty or public goodwill. Apple, through unbelievably astute marketing and the power of
    one Steve Jobs, has won all of those fights.
    Apple isn't as big as Microsoft, and probably never will be. They don't make or have as much
    money. But that the market has valued Apple higher is an affirmation that at the moment,
    Apple is leading the tech world.
    V

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