Apple's iPhone sales proves to have dampened the Big Tech's throne of being the world's most valuable brand as Microsoft's shares just continue to rise, thus challenging Apple for its title, Reuters reports.
This is reportedly after rising 48% in value last year, Apple's shares have dropped 4% so far in 2024 due to new concerns about smartphone demand. Whereas after soaring by 57% in 2023, Microsoft has gained roughly 2% so far this year.
Apple's advantage was further eroded on Wednesday when it fell 0.4% and Microsoft gained 1.6%. Microsoft now has a $2.837 trillion market worth, whereas Apple's is $2.866 trillion.
With these increasing and decreasing values, a Wall Street Journal report states that Microsoft is only $34 billion away from overtaking Apple as the most valued firm in America as of late morning. An approximately 1% difference, citing Dow Jones Market Data as their source.
As per the Reuters report, in a client note released this week, Jefferies analysts said that iPhone sales in China fell 30% in the first week of 2024, which is consistent with increased pressure from Huawei and other local competitors.
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Apple's Future Moves
Amidst falling stock prices, Apple is reportedly preparing for a February 2 release date in the US, for its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. This is reportedly the company's largest product launch since the 2007 release of the iPhone. This release however, is predicted not to largely affect Apple's 2024 profits as per a UBS prediction in a study released on Monday.
This turns out to be an expected development, as Business Insider revealed just a week ago that Microsoft was already getting close to the top, just being $100 billion away.
Apple losing almost $100 billion in market capitalization in a single day due to a downgrade by UK bank Barclays was cited by the report as a significant contributing cause to Apple's potential decline to become the second-most valuable brand in the world.
Microsoft as the World's Most Valuable Brand
If Microsoft does indeed pass Apple for the title, this will not be the first time the two tech giants traded places as CNBC reported last 2021 that after Apple's shortfall on profit projections during that period, Microsoft overtook the iPhone manufacturer in market capitalization.
Apple reportedly said that due to supply chain issues, the company's fiscal fourth quarter sales fell short of Wall Street estimates for that year. The expected $6 billion sales loss was disclosed by CEO Tim Cook to CNBC's Josh Lipton. At market closure, Apple's market capitalization was around $2.46 trillion, while Microsoft's was close to $2.49 trillion when it overtook Apple for 2021.
Now in 2024, Reuters states that experts see Microsoft only growing as they anticipate it will post sales up 16% to $61.1 billion, driven by the company's continuing rise in the cloud sector.
