First it was Apple… then Microsoft pulled ahead… now Apple’s back in the lead! The two tech giants have been going back and forth as the most valuable public company in the US… so who will win?

The tech world was on fire a few weeks ago, after Microsoft surpassed Apple as the most valuable publicly traded company. 

Microsoft’s market capitalization peaked at US$2.89 trillion, slightly higher than Apple’s US$2.87 trillion.

That means that overall Microsoft’s shares were worth more than Apple’s and that increased the overall value of the company.

Now, the two companies are known to trade the top spot in this category and with such a slight difference you’re probably wondering, why should we care?

 Well, for one Apple has been at the top spot for the last two years, so it’s interesting to see that they’re slipping now. It’s also interesting when you consider what’s driving Microsoft’s growth.

So, Microsoft invested heavily in OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. And when I said invested heavily, I mean US$13 billion heavy. 

BUT that partnership seems to be paying off because Microsoft incorporated OpenAI’s technology across its suite of productivity software and that sparked a rebound in its cloud-computing business. 

So the company has really taken the lead when it comes to artificial intelligence and is right up there when it comes to Google’s web search dominance.

Microsoft also recently announced the launch of Windows PCs with a Copilot key on their keyboards for fast access to their AI assistant.

On the other hand, Apple is suffering from low iPhone sales and patent issues.

The company recently deactivated the blood oxygen monitors on its latest Apple Watch series over patent issues with medical technology firm Masimo. 

Apple and Masimo were locked in a court battle over the patent for several years. With the US courts eventually siding in favour of Masimo. 

Meanwhile, iPhone sales in China, which is Apple’s largest market, fell 11% in the last quarter of 2023. So that’s not good.

All in all, that led to Microsoft shares rising 57% in 2023 and Apple stock gaining 48%. Which is why Microsoft was able to claim the top spot.

But then… Apple came out with the new Vision Pro goggles, and consumers went nuts!

Even at a hefty price tag of US$3,500 a pop, these things are sold out!

This helped to push Apple back into the top spot with a market cap of US$3 trillion!

And that’s the bottom line.