Apple jumps to third in 2016 Fortune 500 list

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Tim Cook answered some tough questions during his interview.
Tim Cook has something to smile about.
Photo: CBS

An iPhone sales slump couldn’t stop Apple from climbing up to third in the 2016 Fortune 500 list. The Cupertino company raked in $233.7 billion last year, helping it overtake both Chevron and Berkshire Hathaway.

The only two companies above Apple on the Fortune 500 list are Walmart and Exxon Mobil, which enjoyed revenues of $482.1 billion and $246.2 billion respectively for the year ending March 31, 2016.

No other technology giant came close to Apple last year. AT&T was the only other one to just about make the top ten with revenues of $146.8 billion, while Verizon ranked 13th with $131.6 billion, and Amazon ranked 18th with $107 billion.

“After more than a decade of solid growth fueled first by the iPod music player and then by the even more popular iPhone, Apple finally appeared to hit a wall,” Fortune says. The latest iPhones barely outsold their predecessors, and iPad sales continued to shrink.

What’s more, Apple Watch sales were “modest” after the device arrived to mixed reviews, and sales in China “ended on a weak note.”

Despite this, Apple is still “the most profitable publicly-traded company in the world.”

Fortune adds that the rumored Apple Car — dubbed “Project Titan” — won’t reach customers and “leapfrog the automobile market with an electric masterpiece” for a few more years yet.

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