Apple officials had a bit of a surprise at the end of this week as major competitor Microsoft managed to dethrone Apple Inc. by passing the company in market cap, now making Microsoft the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
This comes just one day after Apple missed earnings expectations on Thursday, bringing the company’s stock down in the overnight markets.
Could this be the beginning of the end of the tech giant or will they be able to regain their footing in the weeks and months to come?
Join us today as we take a look at these latest updates coming out of the tech industry and what could be the cause of this latest tumble by the tech giant.
Apple’s Rise
For many, it’s hard to remember a time when the tech world wasn’t dominated by giant Apple Inc. To conjure up those memories, we’d have to go back some 20+ years in fact. Back before the iPhone, before the iMac and before the iPod had become household names, when Apple and founder Steve Jobs had parted ways with his beloved company to found neXT Computer and work on the infamous “Black Cube.”
In those days, the name on everybody’s lips in the tech industry was Bill Gates. It wouldn’t be until the mid-2000’s when Steve Jobs returned to Apple and began churning out countless devices such as the ones listed above when the company would begin to skyrocket in both value and overall popularity.
Since then, though Jobs has passed on, Apple has managed to continue to be a leader in its field and provide its loyal fanbase with new products and updates on a regular basis.
With the company feeling the pain of the 2020 pandemic and apparently continuing to suffer from the results of the economic shutdown and global delays, Microsoft was able to step in and bypass Apple – a task not plausible in the past 5 years — now making it the world’s most valuable company.
The Fall from the Top
Thursday saw Apple report that revenue had missed Wall Street expectations during this year’s fiscal 4th quarter, reporting a value of $2.43 trillion.
CEO Tim Cook recently told CNBC that the company’s revenue shortfall is estimated at $6 billion. Cook also noted that he expects worse supply chain issues in the December quarter.
Microsoft, on the other hand, was able to beat revenue expectations in its fiscal first quarter, climbing about 22% year over year to a current value of $2.46 trillion.
Despite the headlines, this is not the first time in recent years Microsoft has managed to topple Apple as the company also passed Apple’s market cap in 2020 as the pandemic continued to cause supply chain issues.
Apple officials point to the video game market as a major factor in Microsoft’s recent success. A field that Apple has really yet to dive into fully. Microsoft (owner and distributor of the XBOX console) has managed to keep its company afloat despite many of its original computer base fans making the move to Apple over the past 20 years, by continuing to be a major player in the video game sector.
Perhaps this theory will lead Apple officials to take those final steps towards their own Apple video game console. A move that would certainly boost the company’s ticker price.
The Wrap Up
Will Microsoft be able to hold its place at the top of the industry in the weeks to come or will Apple prove itself the more dominate of the two? Only time will tell.
Though Apple may have seen a rough quarter or two, the company is by no means suffering and still remains at the top of a high tier of tech companies and could easily regain its momentum in the months ahead.
In the meantime, however, followers will only be able to speculate who will win this battle for dominance in the tech industry.
Learn More Here…
If you’re interested in learning more about today’s markets and how the industry is reacting to the latest updates such as the ones listed above, then make sure to join the latest broadcast of Ask the Pros where host Celeste Lindman is sitting down with some of the top market minds at work today to discuss this and MUCH MORE!
P.S. – Don’t forget to check out DTI founder Tom Busby’s latest Wednesday on the Web session where he reflects on these recent market trends and shares his TOP 5 TICKER PICKS FOR THE NEXT 60 DAYS!