(Briefly) passed Apple to become the most valuable American company today

For a brief time today, Microsoft has realized a greater market value than Apple, often called the most valuable company in the world. This temporary change is reminiscent of a long and long history of rivalry between the two companies, even though they are now partners in many fields.

Microsoft has today reached a market capitalization of nearly $ 813 billion, Apple taking only about a billion late. Apple has seen a long decline since the beginning of the year and Microsoft has also seen declines, as have many other technology companies, but Microsoft's difficulties have not been as pronounced. , at least with respect to investor confidence.

The last time Microsoft got this advance, it was in 2010. Earlier this year, Apple became the first company in the world to achieve a market capitalization of $ 1 trillion. Amazon followed soon after. Microsoft has still not achieved this goal and all three are below it after a difficult time for technology stocks.

Current developments in market valuation should not be regarded as definitive or absolute statements about the relative health of companies; it's much more complex than that. But as a rule, Apple has barely responded (or the limit) to investor expectations lately. This is due in large part to the saturation of the smartphone market. Apple just can not sell as many phones. As we have noted many times recently, the company strives to make more money with every iPhone purchase with higher unit prices, add-ons, subscriptions to content and software.

That's not to say that Apple is in danger as a company. Many indicators still place it in an enviable position. It simply means that the company has recently struggled to meet the high demands of investors for continued growth.

Microsoft has its own problems, but it has made big gains lately. Its Azure and Office 365 cloud services are booming and, while trailing behind Sony's PlayStation, the Xbox platform is looking to acquire major studios and implement a streaming strategy that would leverage Azure, which would be a potential advantage for Sony. & # 39; t be able to match.

More relevant for the Apple comparison, Microsoft Surface computers slipped into the mind of Apple's Mac with creative professionals, although this is only a small part of their business for one or the other technology giant.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has focused Microsoft's recent strategies on software subscriptions and cloud services, which has proven to be a winning plan to date. The company has been more resilient to the recent upheavals in technology stocks than other companies, although few have been spared by the recent turmoil.