Apple has shot past Microsoft as the world's biggest tech company as measured by market value, the latest milestone in the resurgence of the maker of the iPhone, which nearly went out of business in the 1990s.
Apple's shares rose 1 per cent on Nasdaq on Wednesday, pushing its market value up to $US225.1 billion ($273 billion) and ahead of Microsoft's $US222.7 billion ($271 billion), according to Reuters data.
Apple shares were up 1 per cent above $US247 ($300) in late afternoon trading. Microsoft shares were down 2.2 per cent to $US25.50 ($31).
Shares of Apple are worth more than 10 times what they were 10 years ago, as it has profited from revolutionising consumer electronics with its stylish, easy-to-use products such as the iPod, iPhone and MacBook laptops.
Microsoft, whose operating system runs on more than 90 per cent of the world's PCs, has not been able to match growth rates of previous years. Its stock is down about 18 per cent from 10 years ago.
Apple, which struggled for many years to get its products into the mainstream, resorted to a $US150 million ($182.5 million) investment from the much larger Microsoft in 1997 in order to keep it afloat.
California-based Apple is now the second-largest company on the S&P 500 index by market value, behind energy behemoth Exxon Mobil Corp.
