Apple became the first company to surpass the $3 trillion market capitalisation on Monday, with its shares soaring up as much as 3 per cent to hit a record high of $182.88 on the Nasdaq, according to the data from the stock exchange. As Apple achieved this feat, the market capitalization of the world’s most-valued company has become either equivalent or more than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of several major countries, including that of India whose GDP is $2.72 trillion and the United Kingdom whose GDP is $ 2.83 trillion.
According to the data by International Monetary Fund, only four countries— the USA, China, Japan and Germany have higher GDP than Apple’s $ 3 trillion market valuation. The GDP of the USA stands at $20.72 trillion, whereas China’s GDP is $ 13.4 trillion, Japan’s GDP is $4.97 trillion and Germany’s GDP stands at $ 4 trillion, respectively. Apart from India and UK, other major countries with lesser GDP than Apple’s market capitalization include France, Italy, Brazil and Canada.
Apple shared the $2 trillion club with Microsoft Corp, which has a market valuation of $ 2.5 trillion. Apart from these two tech giants, the market valuation of Alphabet Inc is $ 1.92 trillion, the market valuation of Amazon.com is $ 1.73 trillion and Tesla Inc has a market value of $ 1.21 trillion. The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco, has a market valuation of $ 1.9 trillion.
Apple which was founded by Steve Jobs is known for its hallmark, iPhones, which have become a sensation across the globe, ever since their launch in 2007. The company also offers products like Macbooks, iPads, and air pods among others. After Apple’s current CEO Tim Cook took over the company in 2011 following Jobs death, a sharp surge in the company’s revenue was witnessed from video streaming and music services.