Apple value hits half a trillion dollars

Apple’s valuation has risen to half a trillion dollars, making it the highest valued business in the world.

Share prices surged to $535.41 yesterday after the tech giant teased a potential iPad 3 reveal at a press conference set for next week on March 7th .

Data from Bloomberg shows that Apple currently has a market capitalisation of $499.2 billion.

Just two weeks ago shares in the firm had broken the $500 mark, with its valuation then calculated at $469 billion.

This came a month after Apple reported revenues of $45 billion for the 14 weeks ending December 31st, more than four times Google’s earnings for the same quarter.

Other companies that have previously hit the impressive $500 billion milestone include Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, although shares in these firms have fallen somewhat since then.