Apple Market Cap in Big Leagues

As noted on Macmischief, Apple's market cap is nearly $50 billion, pushing into the league of industry giants like Dell and Hewlett Packard.

"With its recent stock price closing of $59.95 per share of stock, Apple Computer Inc. now has a market capitalization of $49.8 billion.

After years of being only a fraction the size of rivals such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, Apple now appears within striking distance of both companies ($72.3 and 82.5 billion, respectively). Apple's stock has been on the rise due largely to the continued success of both its iPod and Macintosh product lines."

Of course, Apple is a weeny minnow compared to Microsoft, which is capped at $283 billion.