On Wednesday, Wall Street investors made Apple the largest US technology company and the second largest company in the US based on market capitalization. According to The New York Times, “As of Wednesday, Wall Street valued Apple at $222.12 billion and Microsoft at $219.18 billion. The only American company valued higher is Exxon Mobil, with a market capitalization of $278.64 billion.” Microsoft does have more cash and short-term investments than Apple; Apple’s PE ratio is at 20 while Microsoft’s and Exxon Mobil are around 13 each.

Apple’s position in mobile, cemented by the iPhone and now betting on the iPad with tablets, has helped it to diversify its revenues outside of software and computer hardware. When the iPhone first debuted, Apple had worked out a revenue sharing plan with carriers so that the company would earn a percentage of a user’s monthly bill, bringing future revenues above and beyond the sales of the hardware itself. Now, with the App Store ecosystem, Apple earns 30% of whatever developers make and the company is exploring mobile advertising with the new iAds.

Apple’s rise has been quite dramatic as just over a decade ago, the company was facing an uncertain death. With Steve Jobs called back to the helm and a $150 million investment into Apple by Microsoft along with Redmond, Washington’s commitment to continue to support the Mac OS platform with Microsoft Office, the company has had a stunning rise.

As the battle continues beyond the desktop space into mobile and the cloud, Microsoft has also announced important news and shakeup earlier this week as it relates to its mobile division. Executive J. Allard, who is credited with the now cancelled Courier tablet concept, and Robbie Bach, who heads the Entertainment & Devices division responsible for Zune, Xbox, and Windows Phone development are both exiting Microsoft. Bach is said that his departure is an early retirement after 22 years with the company and both executives are said to be leaving on good times and will serve an advisory role to CEO Steve Ballmer. After Bach’s departure this fall, Ballmer will have greater oversight over the mobile division, with division heads to report directly to the CEO. Analysts and industry watcher will be monitoring Microsoft’s mobile space with Windows Phone 7 expected later in the year and seeing if the company can re-gain grounds it has lost to newer rivals in Apple and Google in the smartphone space.

(via: NY Times)