Microsoft (MS) and Apple, technology rivals for over 50 years, are engaged in a fierce battle for the top spot in global market capitalization. MS, which has taken the lead in the artificial intelligence (AI) market, is chasing after Apple, which has firmly maintained its first place, and even regained the ‘throne’ at one point during the day. Some say that AI has emerged as a ‘game changer’ in the technological war between the two dinosaurs born in the PC era.
On the 11th (local time) on the New York Stock Exchange, Microsoft rose by about 1% in the early morning, barely surpassing Apple with a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion (approximately 3,772 trillion won) at one point during the day. In the afternoon, both Microsoft’s increase and Apple’s decrease decreased, falling below Apple’s $2.89 trillion (approximately 3,796 trillion won) as of the closing price.
There is an analysis that Microsoft’s brief overtaking of Apple is a symbol that AI has emerged as a new turning point in the 50-year technology war between the two companies. Microsoft overtook Apple in 2020, but at that time, the impact of the supply chain shutdown during the pandemic was greater than the technology war. On the other hand, Microsoft, riding on the recent AI craze, appears to be chasing Apple, which is concerned about sluggish iPhone sales. MS, the largest shareholder of Open AI, the driving force behind the ChatGPT craze, saw its stock price increase by 61.3% over the past year, while Apple’s increase rate was 39.1%, falling short of MS.
MS and Apple are rival companies that have led the PC era since their founding in 1975 and 1976. The late Steve Jobs filed a patent lawsuit against Bill Gates’ Microsoft Windows, but ultimately lost, and Microsoft became the overwhelming winner in the PC era. In the 2000 Financial Times (FT) global market cap ranking, Microsoft ranked first, but Apple ranked 339th, lower than Samsung Electronics (146th) or SK Telecom (217th).
The winner of the mobile era in the 2010s was Apple. In 2007, along with the iPhone, it recorded a trillion-dollar market capitalization and solidified its position as number one. On the other hand, MS was treated as a dying dinosaur.
The emergence of ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot called the ‘iPhone Moment’ on November 30, 2022, and the AI craze are once again changing the global technology market.
During the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) pandemic, ‘Digital Transformation’ accelerated in various industries, and representative technology stocks ‘FAANG’ (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) were in the spotlight in the stock market. Last year, it was reorganized into the ‘Magnificent 7’ (Apple, MS, Amazon, Meta Alphabet, Tesla and Nvidia), with Nvidia and Tesla added and Netflix excluded. The average stock price increase rate of these seven companies last year reached 75%.
Among these, MS and Nvidia, which dominate each corner of the AI supply chain, are showing a steep rise again this year. MS dominates cloud computing and OpenAI’s GPT model, which are essential for AI development. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), stock market experts predict that Microsoft will rise by about 9.5% this year as well. The market consensus on Apple’s stock price increase this year is about 7%.
NVIDIA, an AI chip company whose stock price has soared 232% over the past year, has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion (approximately KRW 1,774 trillion) as of the closing price on the 11th, closely following Amazon’s $1.6 trillion (approximately KRW 2,102 trillion), a global online shopping mall. I’m doing it.
Apple, which is suffering from sluggish demand in China, is also known to be focusing on developing generative AI based on large language models. There is also the possibility of a counterattack with the new mixed reality (MR) device ‘Vision Pro’, which was unveiled on the 8th to open the ‘era of spatial computing’. MR Headset Vision Pro, a computer that is worn like glasses, will be released in the U.S. market on the 2nd of next month.
A U.S. Wall Street official said, “Despite the intense tightening of the U.S. Federal Reserve, technological innovation, including AI, is leading the growth of the U.S. stock market. “There is no permanent first place in technological innovation,” he pointed out.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.