Apple shines in pandemic with $2 trillion value on horizon

Washington: Early in 2020, Apple appeared to be caught in a horrible bind. The initial spread of the novel coronavirus shut down the factories in China that assemble its iPhones and also closed its retail stores in a country that ranks as the company’s biggest market besides the U.S. Things looked even bleaker in March after the global pandemic shoved the U.S. economy into what now looks to be its deepest downturn since the Great Depression nearly a century ago.

Since then, Apple has managed to shine amid the gloom, putting it on the cusp of becoming the first U.S. company to boast a market value of $2 trillion, just two years after it became the first to reach $1 trillion. With its stock already up 50% this year, the only question among analysts is whether Apple will pass the $2 trillion milestone before the release of its next-generation iPhones in October.