Apple is no longer on top for the second time this year. After the price of Apple's shares dropped on Thursday, Google's parent company Alphabet has been named the most valuable company in the world.
Apple's shares dropped around three percent, making it the first time the company has fallen to $90 per share in about two years. Even though Alphabet shares were also slightly down for the day, it took the title away from Apple after reaching a market of $498 billion.
Apple, on the other hand, hit a market cap of $494 billion. This close race only shows how neck and neck the two companies are.
The iPhone maker has been on top as the most valuable company since about 2010 when it surpassed Microsoft. Since then, the tech company's worth has continued to increase.
However, the company has seen a halt in growth since iPhone sales began to slow down last year.
In its first quarter of 2016 report in April, Apple revealed that iPhone sales were down about 10 million units compared with the year before. It only sold 51.1 million iPhones during the quarter, whereas the company sold 61.2 million the previous year.
Not only did iPhone sales fall for the quarter, but Mac and iPad sales dropped as well. As a result, Apple suffered from its first year-over-year revenue decline since 2003.
Apple's stock has been falling in the past few weeks, but to be fair, both tech companies have seen their share prices fluctuate.
This is not the first time Apple has been dethroned. Google previously took this very same title away from Apple in February this year. After reporting strong fourth quarter earnings, Alphabet's shares saw an increase. The boost was enough to name it the most valuable company.
Then, just after seven short days, Google's reign came to an end and Apple took back its crown.
However, Apple was just rewarded with another title it can be proud of: the most valuable brand.
According to Forbes' annual study, Apple remains the world's most valuable brand at $154.1 billion for the sixth time in a row. It appears that, no matter how disappointing the latest iPhone is or the shortcomings of its software, consumers have no problem paying serious cash to own Apple products.
Naturally, Google came in second on this list.
We expect the financial rivalry between the two to continue.
Source: Forbes
Photo: Robert Scoble | Flickr
