Revenue and profit-wise, Apple has had a few quarters of relatively flat performance, as the company hasn't released quite as many new products this year as tech industry watchers had hoped. The burden of high expectations means that the company's stock price falls even as it continues to be profitable and sell tons of iPads, Macs and other devices.

But strong growth in July has helped Apple climb back to the top of the list of the most valuable companies in the world. AppleInsider, an Apple news website, reports that the company's market capitalization - the value of all its outstanding shares of stock - was hovering around $414 billion at the end of trading Thursday. For the moment, this makes it more valuable than Exxon Mobile, the largest oil producer in the world, and traditionally the globe's most valuable business.

Stock traders have been more optimistic about Apple's long term outlook as it is expected to release several high-profile products in the near future, including the "iPhone 5S", a lower cost plastic version, and new updates to the iPad and iPad mini.

In recent months, the strong performance of the tech giant's competitors, including Samsung and Google, has led some to believe that Apple's dominance, particularly in the mobile marketplace, could begin to flatline. Several manufacturers have released devices that put together impressive packages of computing power and price, increasing the pressure on Apple to continue innovating and creating tablets, smartphones and PCs that leave the competition in the dust.

If you're still using an old PC and are wondering what the big deal is about Apple products, we highly recommend checking out the lineup of customized laptops at PortableOne to find out why everyone is so enthusiastic about Mac OS X and iOS devices.