Apple is bigger than all these companies — combined!

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Yep, Apple's pretty darn valuable.
Yep, Apple's pretty darn valuable.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s market capitalization passed $1 trillion today. It’s hard to wrap your head around such a large number, so let’s do some comparisons.

But be warned, you might have a hard time believing how much bigger Apple is than some other companies. Or entire industries.

Disney makes the Marvel and Star Wars movies and owns all those theme parks, but its market capitalization is just $113 billion. In order to get to Apple’s $1 trillion value, you’d have to add the rest of the U.S. media industry, including Comcast and Netflix, to reach $956 billion, according to The New York Times.

Apple has already dipped its proverbial toe in the TV and movie business, and is expected to play an even after part in the future. It’s undoubtedly putting together some kind of media service.

$1 trillion is bigger than carmakers and most banks

Automakers were once the mainstays of industry. How do they compare to the iPhone maker? Apple is worth more than Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, and BMW combined. In fact, its value is higher than every major major automakers all together. They just equal $964 billion.

And this isn’t an odd comparison. Apple could soon become an automaker.  It’s pouring tons of R&D cash into its own self-driving vehicle.

What about banks? They have a lot of money. And it takes all four of the largest U.S. banks — Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America — to be worth marginally more than Apple.

The little company that Steve Jobs built isn’t going to going into banking, but it does have a mobile payments system. And Apple Pay is expanding its reach, and big things are expected for the future.

While we’re throwing fun numbers around, a trillion $1 bills stacked atop one another would be 67,866 miles high. That’s more than one fourth the way to the Moon.

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