@rage , that is not opinion those are the facts.
1. No it's not. That valuation is based on market capitalization - not the actual net worth of the business. Two very different things. That means people are willing to pay $620 billion dollars for Apple stock (or $652 dollars per share).
Apple is worth $76 billion dollars. And it is no where near fair price. Apple's book value per share (net worth) is $120, based on current earnings at 15x earnings it would take 15 years for you to break even based on the share price of $652. You're paying 5 and a half times the price to buy Apple. That is not justifiable for investment & will not go to the heavens. In order for Apple to keep delivering it has to constantly shatter records after a new product every quarter. That is not realistic fam. In the short term it's possible but definitely not in the long term.
Market cap is not a true store of value it's what someone is willing to pay per share. And Apple was not the most valuable company ever, that distinction would go to PetroChina in recent years. Proof is in the first link listed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_by_market_capitalization#2007
http://tmx.quotemedia.com/financials.php?qm_symbol=AAPL:US
^^^
You can see Apple's financial statements there. It's worth $76 billion dollars fam. You can also see their incomes statements and compare.
Exxon Mobil is worth more than double what Apple is and makes far more money than Apple.
http://tmx.quotemedia.com/financials.php?qm_symbol=XOM:US
So is the Bank of America & many other U.S. banks
http://tmx.quotemedia.com/financials.php?qm_symbol=BAC:US
^^^ Note also that Bank of America has trillions of dollars in assets.
2. A quarterly report that shows a drop of 1.2% and 5% ?? This is your great claim ??? In the tech industry market share jumps up and down like a teeter-totter and isn't a valid source of relevance for a company on performance. Wells Fargo had a "bad quarter" in 2011 and still managed to do record numbers by the end of the year. What I'm saying is, you need a better source to showcase company performance cuz iuno how Nokia is that high up there despite losing $1.5 billion dollars the year before.....
http://tmx.quotemedia.com/financials.php?qm_page=8676&qm_symbol=NOK:US
^^^^
The point I'm making here is that link you provided is a horrible gauge of success. You should look to a company's financial reports to see where the business is actually standing & the condition it's in.
RIM is having problems in the U.S. there is no doubt about that, that is true, but in other areas around the world and in Canada it's still doing well. Apple is a $76 billion dollar business, RIM is worth a quarter of that AND from a country one tenth the size of yours. That speaks volumes that they were even able to hold a candle to Apple.
Not tryna knock Apple's success, but to sit there and think that NONE of the companies that even showed up in the list you posted have NEVER gone thru tough times is naivete. From Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, to IBM, GE, Coca Cola, all of them. No one is immune and if you look they always found a way to bounce back. If RIM wasn't growing it's subscribership year over year constantly, if it didn't have $2.5 billion in cash on its books and
no debt, if it wasn't number 1 in Canada or booming in emerging markets I'd agree with you. But that's not the case here. RIM will do fine, their sitting on plenty of cash and have some of the best investors in the world backing them.
Understand, in terms of investment Apple is far too overvalued and I've seen this a dozen times over and over and you can look at history to see if I'm lying but it will fall too.
