It's that time of the year when many companies start revealing how well 2015 went, and everyone with a passing interest in finance (us) wonders whether we should invest our money in something other than video games and takeaways.
On Monday, Alphabet - the recently formed parent company of Google - reported that it made more money in the last quarter of 2015 that it had expected it would. This, in turn, saw the world's stock markets respond favourably, pushing Alphabet's shares up by eight per cent - a number that made Alphabet the world's most valuable company, surpassing previous holder and close rival, Apple.
Apple is still making a lot of money: it returned profits of $18.4bn during the same period that Alphabet's many companies made profits of just (just?) $4.9 billion. However, Apple hasn't grown in the last year, with share values sliding by as much as 20 per cent in the last three months. Why? Because the iPhone isn't selling as much as it once did - everyone who owns one doesn't need a new one.
In summary: Alphabet (and Google) are the new kings of tech, and Apple needs some new ideas if it's going to regain the throne.
(Image: Rex)
