A Graphical Analysis of Apple's Performance Under Steve Jobs' Reign

[Akshay Masand]

Dirk Schmidt over at Asymco has created a graphical analysis of Apple’s market cap during the Steve Jobs era that is a must-see. The graph ends up showing how dramatically Apple turned around during Jobs’ time as CEO.

At the beginning of Jobs’ tenure, Apple’s market cap was lower than almost every single one of its competitors. This quickly turned around after an average 42 percent increase in market cap from 1997 to 2011. The company ended up becoming the most valuable publicly-traded company in the world, a huge leap compared to where it had once been.



The second graph shows Apple’s combined market cap amongst its competitors shows how dramatic an effect Apple has had on the tech sector. As Apple slowly climbs up, the competitors are being squeezed by Apple’s ascendancy. Microsoft seems to be one of the competitors hit the hardest as the company that built Windows has gone from over 50 percent of the market cap share, down to measurably less than Apple’s share.



Schmidt said it best when he stated the following:

Steve Jobs became CEO when Apple was 90 days away from bankruptcy. He resigned 14 years later after leading Apple to becoming the most valuable listed company in the world. From a value creation point of view, it’s hard to think of a better performance from anyone, ever.

As we all know, August 24th marked the end of Steve Jobs’ reign as CEO of Apple, when the position was passed on to Tim Cook. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that Tim Cook will be taking the stage at Apple’s main event next week on October 4th at the Apple campus. Do you think Tim Cook will continue to carry on Apple’s progress? After all, he was given the position as CEO at a much better point in Apple’s history than Jobs previously was.

Share your opinion in the comments below!

Source: Asymco

[tomto]

That sucks that we won't get to see steve on stage one last time

[lucebindermuth]

I love steve jobs.

[Akshay Masand]

That sucks that we won't get to see steve on stage one last time

With all the surprises Apple usually has up their sleeves, you never know!

I would at least expect him to be around somewhere at the event.

[ipony]

i want to have steves babies

[Cody Overcash]

test post

[orsm6]

I am itching to get my hands on a copy of Steve's Autobiography

[PathKiller29]

test post

Watcha testing???

[Kinkme93]

i want to have steves babies

If ur a guy or girl it doesn't matter cuz that's nasty haha bill gates is better looking haha

[delusion950]

If ur a guy or girl it doesn't matter cuz that's nasty haha bill gates is better looking haha

ahaha

[raduga]

If ur a guy or girl it doesn't matter cuz that's nasty haha bill gates is better looking haha

Wow, really?

[Devilish4eveR]

Wow, really?

Whahaha... What a way to prove a point... (pix)

[KiidTee]

Whahaha... What a way to prove a point... (pix)

very great way to prove a point steve is way hotter and looks better now, yes im a dude also and thats not nasty.

[Kinkme93]

very great way to prove a point steve is way hotter and looks better now, yes im a dude also and thats not nasty.

Steve jobs looks like a pedophile attracting little boys with his "apples".
Bill gates is a stud!! FTW!!

[MagicJustin]

Look at the way they are dressed. Jobs is a PC and Gates is a Mac!