14 DAY TRIAL // Apple continues to be the most valuable company in the world, just ahead of Google parent firm Alphabet, while Amazon managed to overtake Microsoft and secure the third place.
Cupertino-based Apple is now worth $849.2 billion, according to stats published by The Seattle Times on Wednesday, while Alphabet’s value has reached $744.8 billion.
Amazon stock climbed 2.6% Wednesday to close at $36.54 a share, pushing the company’s market cap to $702.5 billion, enough to surpass software giant Microsoft, currently worth $699.2 billion.
Microsoft aiming for $1 trillion market cap
And while Amazon’s ascension is likely to make the front page of newspapers, Microsoft is expected to stick to a steady growth in the coming years until it’ll eventually reach $1 trillion market value.
Analysts expect Office 365 commercial business and cloud services like Azure to drive Microsoft forward in the coming years, and by the fiscal year 2021, the software giant should be worth more than $1 trillion.
On the other hand, Microsoft isn’t the only one that’s expected to reach this milestone in the coming years.
Apple was originally projected to surpass the $1 trillion market cap threshold as soon as this year thanks to its 10th anniversary iPhone, but by the looks of things, the sales performance of this device has until now been below expectations and the goal is unlikely to be reached.
And yet, Apple is still expected to at least get close to this record value in the next couple of years, especially as the company is planning to expand its iPhone lineup with more models. This year, for example, the refreshed iPhone generation could include three different models ranging in between 5.8 and 6.5 inches, all of them featuring a look similar to the iPhone X and boasting facial recognition.
Furthermore, Apple is also believed to be planning a more affordable iPhone model that would aim for the masses and upgrade users sticking with older phones.