Apple rolls past $3 trillion

there’s a certain value associated with successful brands that makes it worth all the money that goes into advertising, influencer promotions, and other methods that go into building them. come rain or shine, such brands retain their appeal, often despite premium price tags. one company that exemplifies this, to the delight of its fans and exasperation of those who aren’t, is electronics maker Apple. it recently became the first company ever to cross a market capitalisation of $3 trillion. not only did it regain its position as the most valuable one from Microsoft but also has a valuation that is more than the GDP of all but four nations in the world.

can the iPhone maker keep marching on?

blessing in disguise

the pandemic, for all the damage it has done to the world, has come as a blessing for tech companies which have seen an upsurge in both usage and their stock prices. that’s perhaps why Apple, which took 38 years to reach a $1 trillion dollar market cap, took only 24 months to add the second trillion and a mere 16 months for the third. this rise is backed up by Apple’s ability to continue delivering the numbers despite supply chain issues and a semiconductor chip shortage.

in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, Apple has now topped the charts for two straight months, beating the likes of local giants Vivo and Xiaomi. for the latest reported quarter, July to September 2021, it registered a profit of $20.6 billion.

festive boom

that figure is likely to be eclipsed when the results for the subsequent quarter are released, thanks to the festive season sales. it is estimated that Apple sold over 40 million units of the iPhone 13 over the period. its wearables business also received a fillip, with sales of AirPods, Apple Watch, and other accessories expected to register a 20% year-on-year growth for the three-month period.

Apple is also focusing on its services business, i.e. the app store, music streaming, and video streaming platforms. some analysts place the combined valuation of these businesses at $1.5 trillion. if the pandemic-driven growth in streaming platforms is anything to go by, there’s plenty of scope for growth.

add to this the buzz around the metaverse, for which Apple is rumoured to have an AR headset in the works, and electric vehicles, which it is also rumoured to be building. it would appear that the Apple juggernaut just may keep rolling on.