Apple is worth as much as all euro zone banks

LONDON: US technology company Apple is now worth as much as the 32 biggest euro zone banks. That’s the stark result from a steep fall in the share price of banks including Spain’s Santander , France’s BNP Paribas , Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Italy’s Unicredit , compared to a steady rise in Apple’s valuation, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Earlier on Friday the DJ STOXX euro zone banks index fell 4 percent, valuing its 32 members at $340 billion. That’s based on the market capitalisation of their free-float shares, which for some French banks in particular is less than 100 percent.

The index has crashed by a third since the start of July, hammered by fears banks will lose billions from their holdings of euro zone government bonds and a failure of policymakers to stop a euro zone debt crisis from spreading.

The euro zone banks have lost three-quarters of their value since peaking in May 2007.

In contrast, Apple’s market capitalisation has soared to $340 billion on the back of the success of innovative technology products like iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Meanwhile, it was reported Friday that Apple Inc is working with component suppliers and its assembler in Asia for the trial production of the next version of the iPad from October.

Apple has ordered components such as display panels and chips for a new iPad and plans to debut it in early 2012, the paper said.

The new iPad is expected to feature a high-resolution display of 2,048 by 1,536 pixels.

Apple spokespeople were not available for comment.