Apple briefly dethroned: Microsoft takes the lead as world's most valuable company

In context: In August 2018, Apple achieved a groundbreaking milestone by becoming the first company to surpass a market capitalization of $1 trillion. Since then, its market value has experienced substantial growth, with a notable surge that momentarily reached the $3 trillion threshold in June 2023.

Following this peak, Apple's market cap stabilized in the upper $2 trillion range. Despite these fluctuations, Cupertino has consistently maintained its status as the world's most valuable company, outpacing its Silicon Valley competitors. That status quo changed temporarily this week when fellow tech giant Microsoft briefly overtook the iPhone maker as the world's most valuable company, marking the first time since 2021 that Apple was removed from its perch.

Microsoft had earlier surpassed Apple's market cap multiple times, including in 2018, 2020, and 2021. However, each time, Apple has managed to regain its leading position. Also read: Biggest Rivalries in Computing History Microsoft managed to once again overtake Apple's market value this week after its shares rose around 1 percent in early trading on January 11, increasing its market value to $2.903 trillion, while Apple's shares fell almost 1 percent.

By the end of the day, however, Apple regained its position at the top, with the company's shares recovering somewhat, while Microsoft's stock corrected marginally. At the close of trading in New York, Apple was reportedly valued at $2.886 trillion, while Microsoft's market cap fell to $2.859 trillion.

Microsoft's recent stock surge is attributed to its ongoing investments in generative AI, a sector considered by many analysts as the tech industry's future. Microsoft is a significant investor in OpenAI, the creator of the widely used chatbot ChatGPT and the AI image generator Dall E. In contrast, Apple's investment in AI appears more conservative.

The lion's share of the company's revenues still come from hardware sales, with iPhones remaining its bread and butter. However, weaker iPhone sales, especially in China , have led a number of leading Wall Street analysts to downgrade the company's stock in recent weeks. While Microsoft is betting big on artificial intelligence, Apple remains focused on consumer hardware, and is all set to throw its hat into the VR ring with the launch of its Vision Pro mixed reality headset next month.

The company also plans to launch a slew of new Macs, iPads, and iPhones later this year, while Microsoft is tipped to release the next version of Windows, provisionally named Windows 12, in June 2024..