• New York Times, Thursday, May 27, 2010 1:33 PM

Confirming earlier reports, The New York Times says Apple has indeed surpassed Microsoft to become "the world's most valuable technology company." Notes The Times: "This changing of the guard caps one of the most stunning turnarounds in business history for Apple, which had been given up for dead only a decade earlier." Apple ended the day yesterday with a market cap in excess of $220 billion.

Among other factors, the paper of record attributes Apple's rise to the advent of mobile devices, and a broad cultural shift that has placed a greater emphasis on consumer tastes than those of businesses. How responsible Apple is for this shift is a more complex question. Presently, twice as much of Apple's revenue is coming from hand-held devices and music than from computer sales. Over all, the technology industry sold about 172 million smartphones last year, compared with 306 million PCs, but smartphone sales grew at a pace five times faster.

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