Apple's Share Price Overtakes Google As It Is Forecast To Be First $1Tn Company

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/06/apple-share-price-google

The world's insatiable appetite for all things Apple appears to be reaching new levels. Silicon Valley's hottest company could soon become the world's first trillion-dollar company, according to Wall Street analysts.

This week analyst Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets sparked a media frenzy with his headline-grabbing prediction that Apple's already sky-high share price will touch $1,000 within 12 months. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster countered with an ever so slightly less bullish case that Apple's share price would hit four figures by 2014.

The technology group achieved another milestone on Thursday as Apple's stock price rose above Google's for the first time. Steve Jobs, Apple's late co-founder, is rumoured to have decided against splitting Apple's stock in order to one day pass Google's share price.

But for all the hoopla, the leap to $1,000 would be a big hike for a company that has already enjoyed a record run on the stock exchange.

Last week Apple's shares were worth $633.38 each – slightly more than a mid-range iPad. A year ago they were changing hands at $341. At its current price Apple is valued at $590.82bn (£372bn), making it the most valuable company in the world.

Does Uncle Ben have an app for that?

Apple sounds like one massive bubble.

Why the ramp for Apple?

[easy2012]

the only issue is when you time your short.

No, the issue is to find easier target then AAPL..

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

Can't wait for this bubble to burst.

Like I tell everyone I work with. Apple is a fashion accessory and it will go out of fashion quickly.

My money is on Google.

[ader]

I have AAPL shares in my SIPP. I could sell them but what would I buy instead? I just can't see a reason for the shares to fall much for long. Mind you I'd be well up even if the share price fell by 75%

Their markets are growing their customer base is solid and won't move platforms now they have experienced quality and have so much invested in Apple kit and sw (apps) and frankly there is zero competition imho.

[petetong]

Can't wait for this bubble to burst.

Like I tell everyone I work with. Apple is a fashion accessory and it will go out of fashion quickly.

My money is on Google.

What have Google produced ? A search engine, a browser, a mobile JVM/SDK. How many projects have they started and then binned, bet Google Plus goes the same way. It looks to me that they are struggling to diversify from search. My money is on Apple: OSX, iPhone,iPad,iPod, Safari, etc ...

[The Masked Tulip]

A female friend of mine who has had all the iphones up until the recent one - her last one fell in the sea and died - has been adamant for 3 months now that she will replace her dead iphone with the new one.

Went with her today to the mobo shop and she got to see Samsungs and HTCs alongside the new iphone.

When we walked into the shop she was determined to have an iphone - after 30 minutes of checking out and comparing the others she realised that the iphone was in third place behind the other two. She is going to buy a Samsung now.

[easy2012]

A female friend of mine who has had all the iphones up until the recent one - her last one fell in the sea and died - has been adamant for 3 months now that she will replace her dead iphone with the new one.

Went with her today to the mobo shop and she got to see Samsungs and HTCs alongside the new iphone.

When we walked into the shop she was determined to have an iphone - after 30 minutes of checking out and comparing the others she realised that the iphone was in third place behind the other two. She is going to buy a Samsung now.

You wonder why AAPL is busy suing SAMSUNG nowadays..

[Bear Goggles]

I bought one Apple share in 2002 when they were about $12 per share, just for a laugh really, everyone said I was an Apple fanboy and I was banging on about how tech was going to bounce back after the dotcom crash (remember that?) so I was challenged to put my money where my mouth was. I didn't have much money back then, and I didn't know much about shares. I actually overpaid, because it was bought through one of those 'buy one share' places where they send it to you through the post in a frame! I could now apparently buy an iPad with it!

Anyway, I obviously wished I'd bought more than I did, just like I wish I'd bought more gold than I have. The experience did help me get into investing, and to realise I should trust my instincts. What I actually did was invest in my own tech company, which has already paid better dividends to me than Apple*.

*Apple don't pay dividends, and I now get the latest Apple gear through work (and dividends).

[Bear Goggles]

You wonder why AAPL is busy suing SAMSUNG nowadays..

Samsung now have the potential to start being able to steer and manipulate Google through its domination of the hardware Andriod users are choosing to use, it's like Microsoft and IBM in reverse.

It's difficult to remember, but Microsoft was cool once too.

Don't be evil

[MongerOfDoom]

What have Google produced ? A search engine, a browser, a mobile JVM/SDK. How many projects have they started and then binned, bet Google Plus goes the same way. It looks to me that they are struggling to diversify from search. My money is on Apple: OSX, iPhone,iPad,iPod, Safari, etc ...

Would you rather be a) without Google, or without Apple?

If it was not for Google, we might still all be using Altavista or Yahoo. There would be fewer billions spent on useful research such as their self driving car. We would not have a free OS for mobile devices, so it would be a choice between getting screwed by RIM, Apple, or possibly some of the now dead other contenders. Admittedly, we might have some more privacy.

Maybe someone else can explain what is so great about having Apple around. Their iOS products now have cheaper alternatives that are also more useful because they do not come with bundled abuse and contempt. You end up owning the competing hardware, so it will do whatever you tell it to as opposed to whatever Apple approves of. There is no Apple tax on the apps and in-app purchases. You can probably run Flash (if you should want to) or an interpreter for any other language you like.

I guess you cannot really beat the argument that Apple must be doing something better because their market cap is larger. But then I expect no-one would make that argument on a site devoted to discussing how the housing market can be grotesquely wrong for the best part of a decade :-)

['Bart']

When we walked into the shop she was determined to have an iphone

['Bart']

I bought one Apple share in 2002 when they were about $12 per share

Apple were staggering around the grave before Steve Jobs returned.

Aug. 6, 1997: Apple Rescued — by Microsoft

1997: Steve Jobs Was Wrong and Microsoft Saved Apple

The transformation in Apple's fortunes was entirely due to Steve Jobs. And he's gone now.

Expect a slow, steady decline in Apple's fortunes.

Oh we'll get the iPhone 7 with quintuple core processors and the iPad 5s with 3D VR icons. Faster, better specs. New, improved newness.

But the force that created new markets has gone.

By new markets I mean the smartphone and tablet markets we have today.

Yes, there were smartphones and tablets before then, but no sod bought 'em!

No one was busting a gut trying to come up with the "Palm OS Treo killer".

People weren't queuing up overnight to buy the Neoware Voyager.

Apple have been here before of course, 1985 to 1997 (by which time things had gotten so bad that Microsoft had to step in).

[StainlessSteelCat]

I wouldn't bet against Apple in the short term. I think they have another 2-5 years in them before a steady decline ensures. Essentially, they are (were with Jobs?) a large company with a start up mentality - and have been able to fight senescence that way.

Google is looking rather like a one trick pony although fair play to them for funding Android (does it make money for them yet?) The rot has already set in though. Too much of the new elements of their portfolio appeals mostly to techies rather than the average person. It's easy to see why - compare Pinterest with Plus. One is simple, easy to understand, very monetiseable and fun - the other is Google Plus.

[MrPin]

Hmm, I wish I had got Apple shares at the right time, like Forrest Gump!

Not sure how much further they can go?

Can't wait for the new iToilet, or whatever the next thing is?

[Mikhail Liebenstein]

Can't wait for this bubble to burst.

Like I tell everyone I work with. Apple is a fashion accessory and it will go out of fashion quickly.

My money is on Google.

I agree - Apple's share price is behaving like a late 1990s .com share.

It's a dangerous game, but at some point there will be an opportunity to short Apple and make a lot of money.

If Apple produced oil I might get the price rising and staying there, as we'll need oil for years to come, but let's face it there is nothing particularly great about Apple's products. I have PCs (Windows and Linux) and a MacBook Air and actually both Windows 7 and Ubuntu/OpenSuse are better than OSX.

[200p]

Hmm, I wish I had got Apple shares at the right time, like Forrest Gump!

Not sure how much further they can go?

Can't wait for the new iToilet, or whatever the next thing is?

Everyone will start buying now propelling AAPL to $1000/share. The Nasdaq has broken 3000.

The way I would play it is buy the leading juniors to ride the coat tails. If the market does crash, your loss is limited, but the upside greater.

[Gone baby gone]

What have Google produced ? A search engine, a browser, a mobile JVM/SDK. How many projects have they started and then binned, bet Google Plus goes the same way. It looks to me that they are struggling to diversify from search. My money is on Apple: OSX, iPhone,iPad,iPod, Safari, etc ...

This is why Google are a better bet than Apple.

Without Jobs, there is nobody in Apple who can be nasty and say "no, this is shit, bin it." Just look at the iPad 3 for an example of how Apple are slipping.

Google begin their assault proper on the tablet market later this year, and Samsung have the Galaxy SIII ready for a May release, stealing a march on the as yet unannounced iPhone 5.

Apple are a fashion brand in a bubble and they know it themselves - Google see their main competitor as Facebook now and they're probably right.

[Georgia O'Keeffe]

Everyone will start buying now propelling AAPL to $1000/share. The Nasdaq has broken 3000.

The way I would play it is buy the leading juniors to ride the coat tails. If the market does crash, your loss is limited, but the upside greater.

everyones already started buying AAPL, thats why its shareprice is in the news, if everybody had yet to start buying it wouldnt be the stockmarket darling, its clearly been in the media parabolic phase for a good 6 months, threads such as this existing highlight that it is already overbought as it is now being cited as a share to get on for the momentum rather than funnymentals. It could well double from here via momentum of stragglers coming on the coattails but when a share has the media exposure AAPLs had for the last 6 months theres clearly no fundamental value and practically everyone is in, its level of media exposure makes it unbuyable on any real future potential metric

If the market crashes surely the downside of any share is limited to 100%, no doubt if AAPL does top the leading juniors will do just as well as the leading junior miners that were being pimped on threads on here a year ago compared to the likes of Billiton. AAPL is a actually a real share most of the juniors that have followed its upward trajectory are michaelmouse and will no doubt do as well as the junior miners from Kazakhstan as they have a far higher beta,

Edited April 8, 2012 by Georgia O'Keeffe

[funinhounslow]

This is why Google are a better bet than Apple.

Without Jobs, there is nobody in Apple who can be nasty and say "no, this is shit, bin it." Just look at the iPad 3 for an example of how Apple are slipping.

<snip>

Even with Jobs some howlers sneaked through

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7640153/Apples-10-worst-products.html

(even though I don't think iTunes and apple tv belong on the list)

I'm not sure the new iPad is an good example of how they're slipping though? I don't think there's anything out there to touch it, and the iPad 2 has to be bargain of the year at its new price...

[Lewis Gordon Pugh]

I have never bought anything from Apple, just cant see what all the fuss is about. I don't feel any less happy using a 10 year old PC and a 10 year old phone.

[MrPin]

I have never bought anything from Apple, just cant see what all the fuss is about. I don't feel any less happy using a 10 year old PC and a 10 year old phone.

Me neither! The products seem to have a "magic aura", that I am immune to!

Not sure whether that makes me "wise" or just "tight"?

[ader]

*Apple don't pay dividends, and I now get the latest Apple gear through work (and dividends).

Actually AAPL do now pay a dividend, which is another reason for their continued rise (at least short term).

Edited April 8, 2012 by ader

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

Can't wait for this bubble to burst.

Like I tell everyone I work with. Apple is a fashion accessory and it will go out of fashion quickly.

My money is on Google.

Yeah, Chromebooks blow MacBooks out of the water for a start. Want a good laptop? Get a Chromebook today.

And Android rocks - all you need to do is root it and spend a week reading nerd forums and you might even be able to upgrade the OS. And that Nexus thing. This time it's going to blow the iPhone out of the water. This time. This is the big one. It's going to do for Google what the Zune did for Microsoft

And Google+. I don't even know what that is exactly but it's taking the world by storm. Everyone I know's using it.

And Adwords/Sense. It's amazing what good value it is and how it's completely free of scammers.

Mac totally sucks. Everyone knows Mac OS is just FreeBSD with a nice window manager and you can download FreeBSD for any PC. Apple fanboy suckers. Lulz.

[wish I could afford one]

I have AAPL shares in my SIPP. I could sell them but what would I buy instead? I just can't see a reason for the shares to fall much for long. Mind you I'd be well up even if the share price fell by 75%

Their markets are growing their customer base is solid and won't move platforms now they have experienced quality and have so much invested in Apple kit and sw (apps) and frankly there is zero competition imho.

AAPL make products that nobody needs. They only may products that people want. That $1T could disappear overnight if somebody else creates a shinier example or austerity bites severely.

Personally I hold no AAPL directly (I do have some AAPL in low cost US Tracker funds). I do however own SBRY, SSE and AZN. I think people do need the products that these companies provide.

[EmpiricalBear]

This is why Google are a better bet than Apple.

Without Jobs, there is nobody in Apple who can be nasty and say "no, this is shit, bin it." Just look at the iPad 3 for an example of how Apple are slipping.

Google begin their assault proper on the tablet market later this year, and Samsung have the Galaxy SIII ready for a May release, stealing a march on the as yet unannounced iPhone 5.

Apple are a fashion brand in a bubble and they know it themselves - Google see their main competitor as Facebook now and they're probably right.

Sad to say I agree. And I have held AAPL from $92 and I am an app developer making about 30% of my income from the platform on iPads

From a developers perspective, I started falling out of love with Apple from the release of iOS5, funny that this coincided so closely with the death of SJ. As a dev, Apple started crapping on me with iOS5. With the iPad3 they have released a half baked product that has only made life more difficult for me. For a start they did not give the developers the software tools to allow us to ship an iOS 5.1 version of our apps on the same day customers got the upgrade, luckily for us there were no 'show stopper bugs' in our app. Then to make matters worse, the iPad3... we only get a copy of the hardware when the customer does, so we couldn't test our app on the new hardware in advance of release. We found that the new screen really hammered some of our performance so we had to recode, retest and then wait 10 days for Apple to review the app. Result, it took us about 21 days past the release date to get our Retina screen app out, and garner a few negative reviews from customers because we took 'so long'.

Being an iPad developer means I buy every version for testing purposes. It says something that I prefer to still use my iPad2. I regard the heavier weight and increased thickness of iPad3 to be a more significant downgrade than the screen is an upgrade, decreasing its usefulness as a media reader for text and video. I was never unhappy with the appearance of the screen on the iPad2, but I am unhappy with the decreased portability and 'feel' of the iPad3. I don't believe SJ would have allowed this. The iP3 is a half baked release and I fully expect it to be replaced sooner rather than later.

So I think AAPL's eventual decline is in the cards, though it won't become obvious for a while to the average punter. The $1Tn market cap. will possibly be achieved because Apple will probably succeed in general consumer goods markets as they release their TV etc. etc. They will redefine 'the living room' before they run out of ecosystem to dominate. Following that I think we will see consolidation and a long term decline in market innovation. Effectively Apple have just about finished the logical expansion based on a set of new technologies that characterise the 2000's and which enabled them to realise the science fiction devices from the star trek 'communicator' and the 2001 space odyssey 'flat screen panels'. As another set of techs. emerge in the 2020 time frame there will be an opportunity for Apple or another company to repeat the process of redefinition, but thats a way off. Its not everyday that a company can redefine industrial design AND product categories at the same time. SJ and Jonny Ive came together just at the right point in computing history, it was a lucky break and one that doesn't happen very often. Without it there would be no Android or Windows 7, just icky ugly phones and computers that need OS reinstallation every 12 months, so be happy with what we got, but don't expect to retire on yearly double digit stock price hikes from APPL long term.

Edited April 8, 2012 by EmpiricalBear