The BIGGER Apple! US tech firm is now worth more than the combined market value of Britain’s FTSE 100 businesses after rising above $2trillion milestone
- Apple’s share price has surged during coronavirus crisis amid economic freefall
- California tech giant has seen its price rise by more than 75% since start of 2020
- Apple is now worth £1.65trillion while FTSE 100 has fallen 23% to £1.63trillion
- Investors attracted to Apple stock amid high consumer demand in lockdown
Apple is now worth more than the entire FTSE 100 after the manufacturer’s share price surged during the coronavirus pandemic amid economic freefall in Britain.
The California-based tech giant has seen its price rise by more than 75 per cent since the start of 2020 to give the company a value of £1.65trillion ($2.2trillion).
Investors have been attracted to its stock amid expectations it would benefit from high consumer demand in lockdown as people switched to working from home.
Meanwhile the FTSE 100 index of the UK’s leading companies has plunged by 23 per cent this year to £1.63trillion amid the recession in Britain and abroad.
This means the iPhone manufacture is now worth more than all 100 UK firms, which together employ five million people compared to the 137,000 Apple staff.
The Apple store on Regent Street in London is pictured last month on August 19. The tech giant last month become the first US company to boast a market value of $2trillion
Yesterday Apple rose just under 4 per cent after a report that the company had asked suppliers to make at least 75million 5G iPhones for later this year.
It was also boosted by a four-for-one stock split that made its shares more affordable to more investors, which was first announced five weeks ago.
The company cut each $500 (£375) share into four $125 (£95) shares, saying it did so for a broader base of investors to afford to buy its stock.
Last month Apple, which is the world’s biggest company by market capitalisation, become the first US firm to boast a market value of $2trillion (£1.5trillion).
Apple has seen its price rise by more than 75 per cent since the start of 2020 to give the company a value of £1.65trillion ($2.2trillion)
The FTSE 100 index of the UK’s leading companies has plunged by 23 per cent this year to £1.63trillion amid the recession in Britain and abroad
That milestone came just two years after the firm became the first to reach $1trillion (£0.75trillion).
This year the firm has overcome the shutdown of factories in China that produce the iPhone and the closure of its retail sales amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The company has a hugely loyal customer base which continued to buy iPhones and other devices online while stuck at home during the lockdown.
During the pandemic Apple gained about £5billion ($6.7billion) in value every business day – the equivalent of adding a Rolls-Royce every day to its market cap.
The Apple Park campus is pictured in Cupertino, California, on October 23 last year
Apple reported an 11 per cent increase in quarterly revenue in July with sales up to $59.7billion (£44.8billion), but said its new iPhone 12 had been delayed.
Apple has been at the vanguard of a group of Big Tech companies that are increasingly taking over people’s lives – and the stock market in the US.
Just five companies – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google’s parent company – account for nearly 23 per cent of the S&P 500’s entire value.
Saudi Aramco reached a market value of $2trillion shortly after becoming a public company in December 2019, although it has fallen since amid a drop in oil prices.
Customers queue for the launch of the iPhone XR at the Apple Store in Covent Garden in 2018
Apple is said to be preparing to ship 75million new iPhone 12 models this year with the company hoping sales of the next-generation iPhone reach 80million.
The initial figures are in line with previous iPhone launches, suggesting Apple does not think the crisis and economic slowdown are causing consumer interest to wane.
The company is planning to launch four iPhone 12 models later this year with different screen sizes, 5G support and crisp OLED displays.
Apple is also preparing a new iPad Air with an edge-to-edge screen, two new versions of the Apple Watch and a smaller and cheaper HomePod speaker.