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LOS ANGELES
— For the first time in the long history of the
dueling computer companies,
Apple Inc.'s
market capitalization passed that of rival
Microsoft Corp.
on Wednesday, making Apple the most valuable technology
company in the world.
Apple
shares closed at
$244.18
, giving it a market cap of
$222.6 billion
, compared with
Microsoft
, which has a total stock value of
$219.4 billion
.
Apple's
stock, which has repeatedly reached record highs in
recent months, has risen nearly 16 percent since the
beginning of the year, while
Microsoft's
has dropped almost 18 percent. During the last decade,
in which it released a series of hit products such as
the iPod and iPhone, Apple's stock has soared nearly
1,000 percent.
Microsoft
, meanwhile, has seen its stock price remain relatively
stagnant.
"It's
more than just Mac versus PC," said
Yair Reiner
, an analyst at
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
"The market sees Apple as an engine of innovation
and growth, but with
Microsoft
, the vast majority of its profits come from products
that been in the market for a long time."
"
Microsoft
has been the workhorse of the PC revolution, but it's
seems as though that horse is running out of new
tricks."
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