Analysts at Pingdom have recently compared the value of Apple's and Microsoft's stocks and noted that over the last five years Apple has seen its stock value grow exponentially. In comparison to its value in 2003, Apple's stock has grown by 1384-percent while competitor Microsoft has seen its stock drop by 2.45 percent over the last five years. These percentages are relative to the starting points the stocks faced five years ago but it is still notable that Microsoft's stock is almost worth the same now as it was five years ago. Apple's stock has seen significant growth and is almost worth 14 times what it was worth five years ago. According to the analyst show how successful Apple has been in putting new products on the market.

It was 2003 that featured the release of the third generation iPod and eventually the release of iTunes 4.1 for Windows. This release could be considered the tipping point for the iPod's success as now users across both platforms had an easy way to place their music files onto the iPod. Apple has also seen success in other product lines in recent years, it's Mac computer line has been booming, seeing 2.5 million units being sold in the third quarter. The introduction of the iPhone has also had very positive effects on Apples stock value. Over the past two years the iPhone has been receiving top praise from various sources and has been gaining popularity as time goes on. In recent weeks the new iPhone 3G has been selling out across the world and consumers have been having a tough time getting their hands on the device.