Apple surpasses Microsoft as top tech company

Yesterday, Microsoft was humbled by a symbolic blow from longtime rival Apple. After a volatile day of trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange, Apple's market value officially surpassed Microsoft's, consequently conferring the crown of most valuable technology company in the world onto the iPod and Mac creator.

As of market close on Wednesday, Apple's market capitalization on the tech-heavy stock exchange stood at $222.12 billion, as compared to Microsoft's $219.18 billion. Market capitalization, which is commonly used by investors to determine the value of a company, is the sum value of a company's outstanding shares, and so it fluctuates significantly with stock price.

Somewhat paradoxically, Microsoft remains the more profitable of the two companies. For the January-March quarter, Microsoft turned a $4.01 billion profit on revenues of $14.50 billion, thanks in large part to favorable currency exchange rates and a healthy performance from its Entertainment and Devices division, of which the Xbox 360 and Zune are a part.

During the same period, Apple posted $3.07 billion in profit on revenues of $13.50 billion, the best non-holiday quarter for the Cupertino, California-based company. Apple's three-month earnings period was ballooned by sales of 8.75 million iPhones, up 131 percent from the same period a year ago. Mac adoption also grew during the period, rising 33 percent to 2.94 million units sold.

Apple is also reaping success from the iPad, which launched on April 3. Less than a month after its debut, the versatile tablet device reached the 1-million-unit marker, a figure that followed on from estimated opening weekend sales of 300,000.

In trading today, Microsoft and Apple have alternated as the holder of the top market capitalization on the NASDAQ exchange. As of press time, Apple held the title with a market capitalization of $228.31 billion, compared to Microsoft's $228.04 billion.