Early in February, Apple shares surged to an all-time high. Passing the $490 mark, this jump meant Apple was now worth more than Google and Microsoft combined. Since then, shares have continued to creep upwards and, with the iPad 3 launch just around the corner, things are looking pretty good for Apple. Indeed, earlier this week, Apple's market cap reached a value of half a trillion dollars. However, this has led some analysts to question whether or not Apple can maintain such a high market cap. One man who seems to have no trouble believing Apple can do it is Steve Wozniak.
Speaking to CNBC, co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak said that he believes that not only will Apple continue to increase in value, but shares will eventually hit $1000. His reasoning is that Apple is actually several very strong companies rolled into one. Wozniak highlighted the Apple retail store, the iPhone, the iPad, iTunes, and the Mac division as examples of companies within Apple.
"You know, people talk about $1,000 stock price... you know, at first you want to doubt it but I actually believe that and I don't really follow stock markets," Wozniak told CNBC, later adding, "Apple is on such a winning course because it's encapsulated all of its different big products that I mentioned, they all work together so well that you are in a course that if you buy a product from another company it doesn't really do as much as one from Apple does. So Apple has a large room for growth."
Apple is set to announce the iPad 3 next Wednesday. Rumors have also pointed to a MacBook Pro and MacBook Air refresh in April. The company usually refreshes the iPhone in June (though last year's iPhone 4S didn't arrive until the fall), and the iPod line traditionally gets some attention in September.