Apple is on the way to becoming the most valuable firm in the world by 2012. Sales of its products, including the latest generation of iPads, iPods, iPhones and Mac laptops and computers, are expected to propel it even beyond the value of the current top company, Exxon, which is now worth approximately $358 billion, reports "The Telegraph" (http://macte.ch/DOPKS).

Strong sales, particularly in the US, have led experts to predict a 32% rise in Apple's share price over the next year, which would take its value to $367 billion. Providing the shares of Exxon, an oil firm, do not rise beyond that, Apple's foretold success would make it the biggest in the world for the first time.

As "The Telegraph" notes, a technology firm at the top of the corporate tree would be a change from the norm. The list of the world's most valuable firms is traditionally dominated by those in the mining, banking or retail sectors. Pete Najarian, of Trademonster.com, a stock market web site, told "The Telegraph" that, "Analysts are as giddy as you can be but Apple just keeps surpassing those numbers."