Apple is a Coca-Cola-level company, lagging behind in AI innovation

Market Cap Drops by 439 Trillion Won Due to Stock Price Decline
Leading Position Lost to MS... Nvidia Closing In

U.S. tech giant Apple is falling behind in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and losing ground to other tech companies utilizing AI. As its revenue growth stagnates, there are doubts about whether it can secure future growth engines.

According to Bloomberg News on the 16th (local time), Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, said, "Apple has become a value stock similar to Coca-Cola."

Citizens are lined up in front of the Apple Store Hongdae branch in Mapo-gu, Seoul, taking photos.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

For defensive investors expecting returns at market interest rate levels, Apple may be a decent investment, but investors focusing on markets with high growth potential are turning their attention to AI.

Bloomberg noted that while Apple’s management claims to have big plans for AI, it is still difficult to predict how things will unfold.

Apple has lost over 10% of its stock price this year, resulting in a market capitalization loss of about $330 billion (approximately 439 trillion KRW).

As a result, Apple has ceded its position as the world’s most valuable company to Microsoft (MS), which boosted its sales by integrating generative AI, ChatGPT, into its office software products.

Microsoft’s market value stands at $3.1 trillion (approximately 4,192 trillion KRW), surpassing Apple’s $2.7 trillion (approximately 3,596 trillion KRW), with U.S. AI semiconductor leader Nvidia closely following at a market capitalization of $2.2 trillion (approximately 2,930 trillion KRW).

Experts expect Apple’s fiscal year 2023 revenue to decline by 3% compared to the previous year, and fiscal year 2024 revenue to increase by only 2%.

This contrasts sharply with Nvidia’s expected 79% revenue surge and Microsoft’s 15% revenue growth in fiscal year 2024.

Apple faces various challenges including sluggish iPhone sales, regulatory risks, and underwhelming AI performance.

Recently, EU competition authorities fined Apple €1.84 billion (approximately 2.7 trillion KRW) for abusing its market dominance in the music streaming app market. This amount corresponds to 0.5% of Apple’s global revenue.

Mark Leman, CEO of JMP Securities, said, "We are in an incredible wave of innovation," adding, "The market believes Apple has a lot to prove here, but so far it has not shown much."