[X4U] Most valuable (NY Times)

[Paul Moortgat]

Apple Surpasses Microsoft as Most Valuable Technology Company

Apple, the maker of iPods, iPhones and iPads, overtook
Microsoft, the computer software giant, on Wednesday to
become the world's most valuable technology company.

In intraday trading in the afternoon session, Apple shares
rose 1.8 percent, which gave the company a value of $227.1
billion. Shares of Microsoft declined about 1 percent, giving
the company a market capitalization of $226.3 billion.

This changing of the guard caps one of the most stunning
turnarounds in business history, as Apple had been given up
for dead only a decade earlier. But the rapidly rising value
attached to Apple by investors also heralds a cultural shift:
Consumer tastes have overtaken the needs of business as the
leading force shaping technology.

Paul Moortgat