Fortune has published its Global 500 list of companies. Apple ranked twelfth place in revenue making US$260.174 billion. US$55.256 billion of that is profit and under that category Apple is at third place, trailing behind Saudi Aramco in first and Berkshire Hathaway in second place.
2020 Fortune Global 500
Although Fortune notes that Apple’s revenue dropped -2% in 2019, overall the magazine is positive about Apple’s ability to make money.
Mighty Apple dipped a smidge in 2019, down 2% to $260 billion in sales. The computer and phone maker’s ability to make money cushioned the blow. Apple earned $55 billion. Three categories tell the story of Apple’s sales doldrums. iPhone sales, 55% of Apple’s total, fell 14%. Increases in sales of services like streaming and subscriptions, 18% of the total, grew 16%. And wearables (AirPods and Watches) and other non-phone accessories (iPods, HomePods, and Beats products) leapt 41%, but account for only 9% of the pie.
Since 2013 Apple has stayed in the top 20, while Walmart is at the top of the list for the seventh year in a row. In total, the world’s top 500 companies generated US$33.3 trillion in revenue and US$2.1 trillion in profits in 2019. They collectively employ 69.9 million people with Apple employing 137,000.