Microsoft + Google = Apple

If you aren't a big Apple fan, this is going to sting. As of yesterday morning, AppleInsider reports that Microsoft's market cap was about $256.7 billion. At the same time, Google's market cap was about $198.9 billion. If you flipped over and looked at Apple's market cap, it was at $456 billion. Yes, that meant that Apple was worth more than Google and Microsoft combined.

Love or hate Apple, you have to admit that the company is growing in a massive way on the backs of incredibly popular products such as the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook notebooks. The massive growth the Apple has reported since the untimely death of Steve Jobs is nothing short of astounding. While Apple is growing hand over fist, Google and Microsoft aren't seeing the same sort of growth.

In fact, shares in Google fell more than 9% last month after the company missed expectations from Wall Street on earnings and revenue. Microsoft, on the other hand, met expectations, but its revenues from Windows operating system slipped. Much of the success of Apple is due to the iPhone, which continues to sell in huge numbers.

Apple is doing so well that it's also pulling ahead of many of the largest firms outside the technology world. For instance, Apple is worth more than Exxon Mobil, which has a market cap of about $402 billion. The thing that really pushes home the massive amount of money that Apple is worth to me is this; Apple is worth more than the gross domestic product of Sweden, which is $458 billion. Apple is also worth more than all the gold ($350 billion) in the Federal Reserve Bank.

[via AppleInsider]