Apple Share Gains Push Company to $1 Trillion Milestone

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. shares rose 2.8 percent on Thursday, making the consumer technology giant the first U.S.-based company to be valued at $1 trillion.

The iPhone maker's market capitalization briefly passed $1 trillion, based on trading in New York and share count data the company disclosed in a recent regulatory filing. PetroChina Co. crossed the $1 trillion mark in late 2007 but slumped quickly as oil prices collapsed in the financial crisis. Other tech giants are not far behind Apple today, with Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. worth more than $800 billion each.

Read more: A Look at Apple's Trillion-Dollar World

The milestone followed a volatile journey lasting more than 40 years for Apple. Since its founding in 1976, Apple has consistently re-imagined what a computer can be and defined how humans interact with devices and software. The iMac desktop computer, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad were smash hits, while commercial misses like the Newton and Lisa are still considered pioneering.

When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in early 2007, its touch screen, built-in music player, web browser and email capabilities started the smartphone revolution and left competitors like Motorola and BlackBerry in the digital dust.

Read more: Apple Is the First Trillion Dollar Company. Do You Know What Else Is Worth That Much?

The iPhone surpassed almost all early expectations, selling more than 1.3 billion units. It spawned the app economy, where a global army of independent developers earn a living from their software creations while increasing the utility of the device. It's now the hub for a growing services business that the company hopes will pull in $50 billion in annual revenue by 2021.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Gurman in San Francisco at mgurman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Andrew Pollack

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