Apple v Microsoft: an important lesson for us all

By far the most significant business story of the last few months was Apple overtaking Microsoft as the world's largest technology company, says Matthew Lynn.

For all the drama of BP's attempts to cap the oil spill in the Gulf, and of the chaos within the euro area, by far the most significant business story of the last few months was something else completely: Apple overtaking Microsoft as the world's largest technology company.

It is a remarkable feat and a testament to the determination of Apple's guiding spirit, Steve Jobs. But it's something else as well a lesson in some of the fundamental principles that govern business and the markets. Apple's unlikely resurrection is a reminder that, in a free market, all monopolies are transient; that consumers are far better at breaking up dominant companies than any regulator; and that arrogance and hubris will always undo even the mightiest of industrial empires.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.