In most of the world's equitymarkets, easily over 50% of market value is occupied by the top 5% of listed stocks (by capitalization) in the respective markets.
However, any of the companies listed above would obviously demand a premium over market capitalization and may not even consider merging or being purchased.
Refusing to pay dividends, he says, leads to cash hoarding and chronic over-capitalization, leading mangers to seek out investment choices with lower and lower net present values, which is especially true given that any return looks good relative to the effective 0% returns now available on cash.
With the strong support of his board and an another supposedly positive earnings call coming later today, it's hard to call Steve's position as "shaky" at the company, but with whispers of infighting, a symbolic battle with Apple over market capitalization, and a do-or-die mobile launch coming up, it's clear that he's under a lot of pressure to deliver.