Apple has been challenging Microsoft from being the title holder of most valued tech company since time immemorial. Now, the company was finally able to topple the Redmond giant from its number one position with its announcement of $15.7 billion revenue which exceeded the revenue report of Microsoft last Thursday.

According to Thomas Reuters, this current quarter of Apple surpassed the consensus expectations with flying colors after announcing their net income of $3.25 billion to the public. These digits are remarkable given that the gross margins were going down every year due to the current economical problems suffered worldwide. In contrast, Thomson Reuters’ consensus for the revenue of Microsoft is $15.27 billion so the difference is still not that much as compared to Apple’s $15.74 quarterly revenue report. As of today, however, Apple still holds the crown of having a higher market capitalization.

Moreover, the hardware history of Apple during the 3rd quarter is also quite impressive with its 3.47 million Macs, 8.4 million iPhones, 9.41 million iPods, and 3.27 million iPads sold. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, expressed that they consider this current quarter as a phenomenal one because they were able to surpass all of their expectations with their sales. He is also very thankful for the good feedback of consumers to iPad and iPhone 4 as well as the higher preference of people now to Macs as compared to other brands.

So how exactly did Apple beat a well-established tech giant such as Microsoft? It is true that Apple boasts of a rich diversification of products from mobile phones to music players but Microsoft has also tried taking these paths but only failed. It is also not due to the fact that Apple first released its products since Microsoft’s Zune music player and Windows Mobile Phones have been around longer than Apple’s iPod and iPhones.

The reason for this sudden shift can be traced back to the strategies these two companies use. During the eighties and nineties, Microsoft’s strategy is to design their products in such a way that it caters to the technology geeks who recommend buying strategies to the majority of non-geek buyers. This means that the products of Microsoft were suited to the technology literates whom normal people usually ask for advice. Since Microsoft was able to target a population which non-geek consumers trust, they were able to gain the sales that made them the leading tech company provider for years.

On the other hand, this strength of Microsoft also has a weakness and this is what Apple used to get to where it is now. Apple decided to create devices which were user-friendly to even the most technology-illiterate consumers. After some time, people started to notice the huge difference between the usability of the two brands. Upon realizing that they can still enjoy the latest tech perks without needing to be geeks, consumers started to prefer Apple’s products as compared to Microsoft’s complicated range of technology.

And the rest, they say, is history. Now, Apple is the one reaping more gains while Microsoft is left to explain to its shareholders of their fall.