Apple becomes first U.S. company to reach a $2T market cap
Apple succeeded because they managed to do something that was previously unimaginable in business theory - create a mass-market luxury good. A well taught theory in business school is Porter's general theory, which was to create a sustainable competitive advantage you either competed on differentiation or cost, and if we did something in the middle, you would die.Apple managed to create a luxury product - the iPhone (differentiation) at mass-market scale (low cost base) which has driven the majority of their profitability since it's launch.