Apple became the first technology company to reach a US$2 trillion market capitalization.
Apple crossed the milestone in August 2020, after its shares continued climbing from the US$1 trillion record it had set in 2018. The company’s valuation reflected the scale of the iPhone ecosystem, rising services revenue, and investor confidence in its ability to generate cash from a global customer base.
The term technology company is broad, and financial classifications can differ. Apple is generally grouped with information-technology and consumer-electronics companies, while some market databases classify businesses by industry or exchange sector differently.
Market capitalization is not the same as net worth or book value. It is the combined market value of a company’s publicly traded shares, so it can change every trading day without a new factory, product, or acquisition being completed.