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Apple holds grip on 5th place in Fortune 500 thanks to iPhone, Mac sales

Fortune on Thursday published the 2015 edition of its annual Fortune 500 list, as last year ranking Apple fifth among U.S. corporations in terms of revenue, largely on the sales of iPhones and Macs.

Apple has a "product pipeline that's gotten Apple fanboys lining up all over again," Fortune said, including not just the iPhone 6 but new categories like Apple Pay and the Apple Watch. The magazine also commented on the company's market value, which rose nearly $200 billion in 2014 to over $700 billion, a result of stock prices climbing 40 percent.

Apple generated $39.5 billion in profits last year, off some $182.8 billion in revenue.

One future opportunity is said to be the company's upcoming streaming TV service, which Fortune remarked will square off with the cable industry.

Despite the company's success, Apple was still said to be facing its share of problems, such as declining iPad sales, rivalry from Chinese smartphone makers, and general competition from Android devices. While Apple is often the biggest individual smartphone maker in global markets, Android phones currently enjoy greater success as a platform.

The top four corporations on the list include Walmart, Exxon Mobile, Chevron, and Berkshire Hathaway. There are in fact no other technology corporations in the top 10 — the next closest is AT&T, at number 12.