Apple loses 'most valuable' crown | Bangkok Post: tech

Apple shares extended their losses, ending a miserable week for the California tech giant as it surrendered its position as the world's biggest company based on market value.

Apple shares extended their losses, ending a miserable week for the California tech giant as it surrendered its position as the world's biggest company based on market value.

Apple ended down 2.36% at $439.88 a share, giving it a market capitalisation of $413 billion. Shares of ExxonMobil rose 0.36% to $91.68 with a market cap of $418 billion, putting the American oil giant back in first place.

The Apple logo is displayed at the Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco.

Apple first overtook ExxonMobil in August 2011 as the most valuable company in the world based on the value of its stock.

A year later, Apple dethroned longtime rival Microsoft as the most valuable company in history based on the value of its stock at $622 billion.

But the company took a bruising this week after Wednesday's gloomy forecast accompanying its record quarterly profit announcement prompted pessimism over the tech giant's slowing growth trajectory.

Apple's profit was $13.1 billion on revenue of $54.5 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 29, with sales of iPhones and iPads setting quarterly highs.

But despite those figures, investors soured on Apple after it forecast that revenue for the current quarter would range from $41-43 billion and that it would have a gross margin of 37.5% to 39.5%, lower than expectations.

Analysts remained cautious about Apple, which had seen a meteoric rise last September to over $700 a share but it has slid 37% since then. The company shed some $60 billion on Thursday and around $10 billion more Friday.

Some express concern that Apple has lost its edge in innovation since the death of Steve Jobs, and is losing ground to rivals such as Samsung, which leads the mobile phone market, and to others using Google's Android operating system.

Jinho Cho at Mirae Asset Securities said Apple will likely increase carrier subsidies in 2013 and launch "an entry-level iPhone" to compete better in emerging markets.

Tell us what you think about this article

Like dislike 0 people liked / 0 people disliked it

Share this article

0

0

• More +

• Republishing permission
• Print this

Bangkok Post online classifieds

Try buying & selling goods and properties 24/7 in our classifieds which has high purchasing power local & expatriate audience from within Thailand and around the world.