HEXUS.sharewatch: Apple breaks the $200 billion barrier

It looks like it's not just Apple fanboys who get caught-up in the hype machine. Over the past year Apple's shares have more than doubled, and last week its market capitalisation - the cost of buying all its shares - topped the $200 billion mark and overtook grocery giant Wal-Mart in the process.

In principle, investors aren't star-struck consumers, easily hypnotised by the latest Apple shiny thing and Steve Jobs' accompanying superlatives. They're pragmatic, savvy assessors of the future growth and profitability potential of a company, who make bets accordingly.

But you have to wonder whether Apple is an exception here, as it is in so many other contexts. Last year's growth is mainly attributable to the momentum behind the iPhone. This is significant not just for the money Apple makes from each one sold, but for the mobile Internet install-base it gives Apple, which is uniquely proficient at extracting extra revenue from its customers.

The market is betting that things like the app store will be long-term cash-cows for Apple and that rival platforms like Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone won't eat into its share too much. The iPhone remains the standard by which smartphones are judged, but there are a lot of big companies chucking a lot of money at that market, so it won't be easy for Apple to stay on top.

To put this valuation into context, look at the market cap column below. For the price of Apple you could buy the world's biggest PC marker - HP - the biggest phone maker - Nokia - and still have enough left to buy Dell too.