Apple loses its crown as the world's most valuable company

Nikhil Kumar
Friday 25 January 2013 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The stock market added insult to the deep wounds endured by Apple after its results disappointed investors this week, driving down its share price to the point where it lost its crown as the world's most valuable company.

Apple's stock, which has been retreating ever since its earnings report late on Wednesday, reignited concerns about future growth as its iPhones face competition from Samsung and its Galaxy range of smartphones, fell by about 2 per cent to $441.3 at one point during early trading yesterday.

That gave the Californian tech giant a market capitalisation of $416bn (£263.2bn), lower than Exxon Mobil, the oil giant which at the time was up 13 cents at $91.48, thus boasting a market value of $417bn.

The two companies rivalled each other for the title of most valuable in the world through the summer of 2011, when Apple first overtook Exxon. But the oil giant has lagged behind since early 2012, as Apple continued to gain ground.

The tide now appears to be turning, as Apple struggles to convince the market that it is taking on the likes of Samsung, which earlier this week posted a record fourth-quarter profit, powered in part by higher sales of smartphones.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in