the battle for The throne is opened: at the beginning of the week, Microsoft has replaced for the first time in eight years, Apple as most valuable company in the world – at least for a few seconds. The iPhone maker regained the title, but since then, the technology world is looking forward to the top of the stock market world. There is a permanent changing of the guard?
Microsoft is currently 852 billion US-Dollar value, Apple is 858 billion. The head-to-head-race are two reasons for this: Microsoft was able in the last few years, remarkable Comeback, at the same time, the Windows-manufacturer of a current phase of weakness in Apple’s profits.
Therefore, the price of Apple
drops the Apple at the beginning of August at the Zenit: As the first U.S. company ever, the group cracked the mark of one trillion dollars. Since then, the exchange rate circles, however, went down partly because Reports from Suppliers that the current iPhone models allegedly sell as well as hoped. Although the company announced, in the meantime, iPhone, XR be the current Bestseller. Specific Figures were not called. How the Situation really is, is only in the spring guess, when the group announced figures for the next quarter.
At the same time, investors are worried about the announcement by US President Donald Trump, that Apple could suffer from possible US punitive tariffs on iPhone imports from China. The profit could fall by up to four billion US dollars.
that’s Why Microsoft is putting more and more
However, Microsoft’s success is explained not only with the weakening of the competition. Since Satya Nadella took over in February 2014, the helm, the company set a new course. The change at the top could hardly be more contrasting: Was the previous CEO Steve Ballmer for his loud, sometimes krawalligen appearances known, Nadella is more of a man of quiet and deliberate tones, which understands much of the technology behind the Business. He is a hobbyist, not a classic Manager, such as Ballmer. With success: The turnover climbed in the last quarter pay 19 per cent to 29.1 billion U.S. dollars, profit increased in the year-on-year by a third to 8.8 billion.
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Nadella is focusing on new lines of business. Although the majority of sales is generated as before, with the traditional PC sector of the Windows business. Here, sales rose last by 15 percent to 10.7 billion US dollars. Thus, the former core business, but it’s only a little more than a third of the revenue. Because other areas of the company to set much faster: The Surface division recorded thanks to the new Surface Go up 14 percent to 1.2 billion. The end of 2016, acquired Online career portal, LinkedIn increased its revenue by 33 percent.
The largest engine of growth, however, is the lucrative Cloud business. The Azure platform, with the companies your Websites, Apps, and manage data and access on an advanced Artificial intelligence, has already for years a high turnover jumps. Finally, it went to 76 percent. With Azure, Microsoft competes primarily with Amazon’s market leader AWS (Amazon Web Services) and the Cloud services of Google. Overall, the Intelligent Cloud division grew 24 percent to 8.6 billion dollars. The growth should remain at the same pace, is expected to Microsoft will earn in the next few years, more and more with Cloud services than with the classical PC division. Also, the office Software “Office 365” sold themselves well: they grew in the last quarter to 36 percent.
the Apple vs. Microsoft – who makes the race?
Both companies are pursuing different strategies. Apple deserves the lion’s share of the sales, with Hardware, more precisely the iPhone. The phone is washed up more than half of the profits in the coffers. In addition, there are the Mac, the iPad, the Apple Watch and other devices, such as the AirPods and the Apple TV. With the sale of Hardware, high margins are possible, but they do not guarantee a regular flow of money.
Microsoft drives a very different approach: The Redmond company rely on Software and the Cloud. Nadella wants to provide the infrastructure for other businesses, the office software Office is available for Apple devices. The provides lower, but more frequent wins. With the Xbox game console, the Cloud division, the most popular PC operating system and various office services, Microsoft is positioned very wide.
The future
according to analysts, the Smartphone market is gradually saturated, the REM telephone is losing its importance. The Software itself takes center stage, what comes to companies like Google and Microsoft, provide their services cross-platform ready. Even Tim Cook knows. The Apple CEO continues to build for several years, the Services sector, want to earn more money with subscriptions to Apple’s Music or iCloud. In the coming year, a private offer of films and series to start. So far, the Services business, but not in approaches, the importance of Hardware sales
For a Swan song to Apple, as it is in some places to read, it is still too early. The group has cash reserves of more than US $ 250 billion, so there is no problems in the foreign company incorporate. In addition, the current stock market trend is just a snapshot in time, which Essentially depends on the short-term expectations of the investors. Apple has proven in his more than 40-year history, however, a number of times that the group can transform. So how it managed to also Microsoft a few years ago. The battle for the lead is likely to remain in the next years even more exciting.
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