Apple Becomes the World’s Most Valuable Company

It has been confirmed that Apple Inc., the fruity company at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA., has just shot up to a staggering $622 billion / €500 Bn. today, with the price per share reaching a record $663.23 (or €539).

In other words, Apple is now the world’s most valuable publicly traded company ever, in history. Not the tech industry’s most valuable, but the entire globe’s.

CNN Money points out that Steve Jobs’ brainchild was valued at less than $10 billion / €8,10 billion in 2004, and at $100 billion / €813 million in 2009.

Even though Apple has long been reaching for the stars, giving Wall Street every indication that it was getting there eventually, analysts are still baffled. Not to mention that they’ve got the most highly-anticipated product launch in the company’s history lined up.

The future looks bleak for archrival Microsoft, whose sales are now worth less than the Apple iPhone business alone.