Apple is the world's largest technology company

Apple is the world's largest technology company, overtaking Microsoft, after two decades spent battling for the position. At the end of yesterday's stock trading session, Apple's victory was announced, with the company's market value standing at $222.07 billion, compared to Microsoft's $219.18 billion. Apple's triumph also extends further, with the company becoming the second largest in the US by market capitalisation, after ExxonMobil.

Shares in Apple rose as much as 2.8 per cent on the Nasdaq index yesterday, making them worth ten times more than they were ten years ago. The constant flow of new and innovative gadgets over the last few years is integral to Apple's growing success and, in particular, the release of its latest product - the iPad. Surpassing industry expectations, a million tablets were sold in the US during its first month of sales, causing delays to its international release. Tomorrow the iPad will go on sale in Australia, Canada and Japan, as well as six European countries, with further international launches planned for July.

Shift from desktop computing

Yesterday's achievement speaks volumes about technological trends and marks a distinct shift from desktop computing, where Microsoft has long been leading, to mobile computing, in which Apple has flourished with products such as the iPhone and iPod.

According to Matt Rosoff, a lead analyst at independent firm Directions, "Wall Street has more confidence in Apple's growth prospects than it does in Microsoft's growth prospects." Mr Rosoff believes that in order to keep up with Apple, Microsoft needs to find new and unique ways in which to develop. Otherwise, he says, Microsoft will inevitably lag behind.

Huge companies like Apple and Microsoft can, however, see their market capitalisation differ by billions of dollars from day to day and there is the possibility that Apple's market lead will not last.

Microsoft's chief, Steve Ballmer, has today announced that he is unconcerned by rival Apple's current upper hand, claiming that "certainly there is no technology company on the planet that is as profitable as we are."

Talking of Microsoft's plans for the future, Mr Ballmer told journalists "we are executing very well and that is going to lead to great products and great success."

In terms of full-year profits, Microsoft has enjoyed higher figures than Apple, with last year's net profits standing at $14.6 billion and $5.7 billion respectively. Microsoft also reported bigger full-year revenues of $58.4 billion, with Apple on $36.5 billion. Apple Macs also only constitute one of every ten computers sold worldwide. However, the success of Apple's gadgets, which truly began with its introduction of the iPod in 2001, has encouraged larger numbers of consumers to opt for Macs instead of PCs, despite the fact that Apple products are compatible with computers running Windows operated systems.

iPhone demonstrates Apple's turnaround

Indeed, before the launch of the iPod, in the late 1990s, Apple almost went under and had to be bailed out by a $150m investment from Microsoft. Times have greatly changed and the advent of the iPhone in 2007 clearly showed Apple's return to success. With a new version of the iPhone expected later this year, Apple's profits and revenues could continue to rise. Mr Ballmer, however, is focusing on long-term strategy, stating that "It's a long game" and "we have good competitors... we too are a very good competitor".

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