Apple reached a record market valuation of $702 billion (€564 billion) yesterday. That is enough money to buy each of China's 1.63 billion inhabitants a 16GB iPad Air 2, and still have change leftover.
The company expects sales to be higher in the final quarter of the year, more than all of 2010. Yesterday's valuation means that there are only 19 countries in the world who are richer than Apple. Shares have risen by 60 percent this year.
Post Steve Jobs
The passing of the company's co-founder, and then-CEO Steve Jobs in October 2011 came at a time when Apple's product cycle was experiencing a dip. There was never a crises, but there were some question marks hanging over the future of the company. The early years of current Apple CEO, Tim Cook's reign saw new generations of already existing pieces of hardware being rolled out, and some questioned the company's ability to continue to innovate.
New products
2014 has been hailed by Tim Cook as “one for the record books” - it is also the year that he has come out of the shadow of his predecessor. The company launched three major new products, the iPhone 6, the Apple Watch and Apple Pay.
It is the first of these products that has been driving this growth. The iPhone 5 is now being viewed as a miscalculation, as it stuck with a 4-inch screen while companies like Samsung were already introducing 'phablet' style mobiles.
In 2010 Steve Jobs said that no one would want a bigger phone - time has proved him wrong.
The iPhone 6 was released in 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch models and has been a run away success. It is predicted that Apple could sell 71.5 million iPhones in the holiday-heavy final quarter of 2014.
The future
2015 promises to be another interesting year for the company as the Apple Watch will go on sale. Apple has been marketing the product as a health device and fashion accessory, but developers are currently working on new applications for the piece of hardware. The real use of the watch might not be realised until both the product, and the apps to go with it, are released on the market.
Apple Pay is another uncertain offering - the company is one of many players hoping to dominate the mobile payment market. The success of Apple's new hardware offerings could be key - as it allows for its payment software to be automatically installed in millions of phones around the world.
