MercuryNews.com: “As 2010 draws to a close, much of the tech world is struggling to regain its footing after a difficult recession. Then there’s Apple. Never before has this venerable company, which at age 34 is a grizzled veteran by Silicon Valley standards, stood so firmly atop the high-tech industry. Earlier this year, Apple’s market capitalization surpassed that of Microsoft, making it the most valuable property in the tech universe. And during its just-completed fiscal year, it broke four consecutive quarterly revenue and profit records. Amid the worst recession in decades, Apple hired thousands while others cut jobs. But what most distinguishes Apple is the way it has climbed these heights. While other tech titans spent 2010 cutting costs and acquiring new technology through mergers, this $65 billion company is innovating like a startup…Experts point to three key factors that drive Apple’s relentless innovation: It invests heavily in R&D, is unafraid to cannibalize or kill its own products and is able to extend its core technology across a host of different products to create a dominant ecosystem of consumer gadgets.”