If you have been around the technology space for some decades you are very familiar with the often brought up debate about which tech giant is better, Apple or Microsoft. And although more companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta have arisen in the tech space, Apple and Microsoft remain the two largest giants. Here’s a glimpse of how these two giants are fairing off against each other now.
Apple
Apple is the largest company in the world with the greatest market capitalization at 2.6 trillion dollars in 2022. They made headlines in January of this year for being the first company to surpass a 3 trillion market cap evaluation. Apple also has the largest amount of cash reserves and investments totaling an insane 202.6 billion dollars as of 2022. Apple has been beating Microsoft in total revenue since 2010, and in 2021 their revenue was 365 billion dollars.
Microsoft
Microsoft is the third largest company in the world with a 2 trillion dollar market cap, with the number two spot held by the Saudi Aramco oil company. Microsoft also trails behind Apple in cash reserves and investments with a measly (joking) 132.2 billion dollars. In 2021 Microsoft’s total revenue was 168 billion dollars.
Investors Opinion
From the statistics above it would seem the debate is settled, Apple by the numbers has beaten Microsoft, but many investors think otherwise. For example investors are saying Apple has a cash problem, they have too much cash with nothing to spend the cash on. Which is why apple famously in 2021 bought back 85.5 billion dollars of it’s own stock.
Investors also think that Microsoft has a more balanced business strategy. More than half of Apple’s revenue comes from selling the iPhone, Microsoft has more modes of business revenue. Microsoft sells mainly software, cloud computing, and IT solutions which all have lower margins. And Apple mainly sells hardware, such as the iPhone, Mac, etc, requiring higher margins to manufacture their products.
So the debate still rages on, both companies have done a tremendous job satisfying the needs of the market. In the past you had to choose between Apple and Microsoft since they only made computers. But now almost everyone uses products from both companies, because they both sell a heap of amazing products.
