It’s been a while since we read that Google passed Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. Google’s parent company Alphabet overtook Apple in May, with respect to market capitalization. However, Apple is back at the top, with a market capitalization of $568 billion. Google’s market capitalization of $547 isn’t far behind. It holds the second place now. What is really revealing is that Facebook is now the 5th most valued company in the world, after Microsoft & Amazon.
What does this tell us?
The fact that a social networking company is one of the biggest 5 is a revealing trend. What it is also revealing is that Apple’s business is kind of slinking. Its iPhones are not generating as much money as they used to do previously, and it is left wondering if it should focus on its Macs or its iPads. Google’s business isn’t doing very well, especially when it comes to its ad business.
The reasons could be many, but at the moment, what we need to notice is, Google and Apple continue to remain at the top, while Facebook is slowly clawing its way to the top. Microsoft is falling, and Amazon has plateaued. It tells us where we are in the world of technology. With both Apple and Google being the traditional tech companies, that have focused on mobile development, is it soon enough to say that the mobile bubble getting ready to burst?
Not really! On the contrary, mobile usage is plateauing, and the market is becoming more and more mature. With maximum people having access to tools that get them online (such as mobile devices), it is only for Facebook to see an upward surge, which focuses on its social platform and ads. Similarly, more people are buying online, which leads us to believe that mobile is keeping Amazon’s growth at a steady pace.
While there do not seem to be any disruptions coming our way, the trend clearly is towards the social. Social platforms have long been seen as the next big thing, and now they are getting their due respect, and Facebook’s case is just an example of the trend. On the other hand, both Google and Apple are struggling to retain their coveted places, which show us that previous business models may soon change, and they may need to innovate in order to stay at their top forms.
Looking forward
Both Google and Apple might begin to focus on not just their mobile businesses, but also their social side of their business. For example, Google may invest more on making algorithms social-search friendly, whereas, Apple is likely to focus on Apple Music’s inherent social capabilities. Music is the next big untapped source of social revolution and Apple is certainly well equipped to handle that. We need to wait and watch how these older companies will handle this situation, while social networking companies continue to see the growth that we all expected.
