Apple's value surpasses 600 billion dollar mark for first time ever

London, Apr 11(ANI): Technology giant Apple's value has hit the 600 billion dollar mark for the first time ever, asserting its position as the most valuable US company in the world.

Apple's share had crossed the 500 dollars doorsill back in February, and they reached a high of 644 dollars on Tuesday.

Apple's stock has risen by almost 60 per cent since the start of the year, and it is another milestone for the iPhone maker, whose shares were worth as little as 3.19 dollars in 1997 when it faced the possibility of bankruptcy.

Competitor Microsoft is worth 260 billion dollars, and in 1999, at the peak of the dotcom boom, had reached 619 billion in market capitalization, The BBC reports.

In January, Apple reported record-breaking net profits for the last three months of 2011, and at the end of last year, it revealed it had 97.6 billion dollars in cash.

In March, the tech giant under current chief executive Tim Cook said it will use its cash to start paying a dividend to shareholders and to buy back some of its shares. (ANI)