Apple has become the first publicly traded US company to reach a $2 trillion market cap.
The US tech giant hit the $2tn milestone on Wednesday just before 11am ET. A share price increase to $467.77 with a share count of 4.276 billion saw Apple break the barrier.
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In August 2018 Apple became the world’s first trillion-dollar publicly-traded company. It took the iPhone maker 42 years to reach that milestone, but just two years to reach the $2 trillion mark.
Apple’s share price is up 56% for the year to date. Like many technology companies, it has proven resilient to the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. In its latest quarterly earnings, Apple reported revenues of $59.7bn.
Apple is not the only technology company to see its market cap explode in value over the past two years.
Microsoft and Amazon are both currently around $1.6tn. Google parent company Alphabet is now worth more than $1tn, while Facebook is creeping towards the trillion mark at $760bn.
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By GlobalDataApple reaches $2 trillion but challenges lay on horizon
During Apple’s four decades it has evolved its business to cover new markets, from computer hardware to mobile devices and more recently to services.
Despite the company’s success it faces challenges on the horizon. There have been increasing complaints from developers about Apple’s App Store policies, in particular the 30% cut it takes from sales. This has culminated in multiple ongoing antitrust investigations.
Last week popular video game Fortnite filed a lawsuit in a very public fashion, describing Apple as “the behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation”.
The company also faces a threat to iPhone sales in China, should a Trump executive order see the messaging app WeChat banned from Apple devices.
Read more: Losing Fortnite won’t hurt Apple’s revenues – but the publicity will sting
