After retaining the #3 spot on the Fortune 500 list for the past two years, in 2018 Apple has dropped one place and now sits at #4 on the list of the top U.S. corporations based on gross revenue. Apple's displacement on the list came due to Exxon Mobil rising from #4 in 2017 to #2 in 2018.
The full top five spots were Walmart at #1, Exxon Mobil at #2, Berkshire Hathaway at #3, Apple at #4, and UnitedHealth Group at #5. Other technology companies on the list include Amazon at #8, AT&T at #9, Verizon at #16, Alphabet at #22, and Microsoft at #30.
Fortune broke down Apple's spot on the list, mainly citing the "overall saturation of smartphones" as a potential reason for the company's inability to rise higher in the rankings. Fortune discussed similar problems for Apple in the company's profile last year, stating at the time that "Apple finally appeared to hit a wall" in reference to its reliance on iPhone sales.
Apple took a small step back, from No. 3 to No. 4, despite a 6% gain in annual sales, but it led the way in profits with more than $48 billion in net income. In short, the Apple juggernaut continues at tremendous scale and despite the overall saturation of smartphones, which make up the vast majority of the company’s sales and profits. In an unusual move, Apple introduced three new phones, the upgraded iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, as well as the redesigned iPhone X (pronounced “ten”), powered by facial-recognition technology. Services likes Apple Pay and Apple Music continued to rise too.
Going back eight years, Apple's previous rankings include 5th place in 2015 and 2014, 6th place in 2013, 17th place in 2012, 35th place in 2011 and 56th place in 2010. This year marks 24 years that Apple has been on the Fortune 500 list, with $229.2 billion of revenue and $48.3 billion of profits in the 2017 fiscal year. Although it lags behind the companies in revenue, Apple still beats the top three Fortune 500 companies in terms of annual profits, with Walmart at $9.9 billion, Exxon Mobil at $19.7 billion, and Berkshire Hathaway at $44.9 billion.
Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by Tim Hardwick
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence.
Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476
The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick.
"We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote.
If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by Juli Clover
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices.
With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...
All together now. On 1, 2, 3, let's us give it the all-time shout Go Higher! And Higher!
The distance between #4 and #1 could be mostly made up by Apple just doubling their prices. And why would we care? What's important to us is Apple coming in first in such contests. Anyone actually having any price sensitivity could either be run off ("why are you here?") or put in their place by spinning payment plan numbers with ever-longer terms ("just $X more per month").
Double them prices! Double them prices!
Furthermore, if Apple would quadruple their prices, they could probably double the revenue of the current #1. That would not be just taking first place... but doubling the runner up. We could sooooo celebrate such a leap. How much better the world would be if 4X the money flowed to Apple! Our individual lives would be so much better if our favorite corporation was that much richer.
Quadruple them prices! Quadruple them prices!
In either case, since unit costs would remain about the same, all of that doubled or quadrupled revenue would be added profit too... significantly strengthening our old standby of "...but who makes the most profitable _________".
Apple dropped because in the last few years they have disappointed many customers with their products.
I am still holding out for a more improved laptop to replace my 6 year old Air. Apple has lagged in the notebook line IMHO.
Apple 'dropped'? You sure? Odd how you'd think that because it pretty obvious that the inverse is true. They're at 4th not because they've 'dropped' but because the other three have higher revenue figures. Next time look deeper into the facts before posting.
You must have forgotten I assume where Apple confirmed they had a record first Q1 just a few weeks ago.
Apple's global revenue from 1st quarter 2005 to 2nd quarter 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars) ('https://www.statista.com/statistics/263426/apples-global-revenue-since-1st-quarter-2005/')
Holy crap! Some of these comments are an ugly indictment of our education system. Reading comprehension is at an all time low it seems. Apple "dropped" relative to other companies having higher revenue this year. They didn't drop because they sold less, ignored pro users, concentrated on emoji, or took advice from Siri. Apple actually had better revenue on this year's list ($229B for the #4 spot) than last year's list ($215B for the #3 spot). It's a simple comparison. Apple could hypothetically have a $300B year and fall to #10 if 9 other companies have years better than $300B. No conspiracy theory needed.
After retaining the #3 spot on the Fortune 500 list for the past two years, in 2018 Apple has dropped one place and now sits at #4 on the list of the top U.S. corporations based on gross revenue. Apple's displacement on the list came due to Exxon Mobil rising from #4 in 2017 to #2 in 2018.
