Unlike the start of 2022, Apple started this year with $1bn (£829bn) wiped from its market value as tech companies face strong headwinds from higher interest rates, production issues and global economic concerns.
Following the sale of shares by investors, the tech giant’s market value is below $2bn (£1.65bn), after a year ago it became the only company to achieve a valuation of $3bn (£2.48bn).
It had previously claimed the title of the first publicly traded company to reach $1 billion in market value in August 2018.
Now, no tech company is worth more than $2 billion, but Apple closes in on Microsoft at $1.8trillion (£1.49trillion) in second place.
The iPhone maker has by no means been the hardest hit among tech companies that have seen a drop in value.
Its stock value has fallen 27% over the past year, less than the 33% loss of the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
Likewise, Tesla the value also has plummeted over the past year as investor confidence has plummeted and, with Elon Musk sell shares.
The automaker faced increased competition for electric cars, feared its chief executive would be distracted by the Twitter acquisition, and supply problems because it produced more cars than it delivered.
Both Tesla and Apple have had production issues with factories in China, which are expected to continue with a rapid increase in COVID cases in the country.
The automaker reportedly slowed production at its Shanghai plant late last year, as well as in May.
Apple has also struggled with production in China and said in November it experienced “significant” disruptions with iPhone assembly after an outbreak of COVID-19.
The decline in the value of companies is an illustration of the difficulties facing the sector.
Higher inflation – which stood at 10.7% in the UK and 7.1% in the United States – made prices more expensive across the board and rising interest rates meant the end of cheap debt. These combined problems have raised fears of a recession and a shake in investor confidence.
These economic conditions show no signs of abating as central bankers remain determined to raise interest rates to bring down inflation.
Job losses at major players, such as Meta and Amazon, have already impacted the industry as a whole.
Payments company PayPal has announced plans to lay off 300 of the 2,000 employees at its EMEA headquarters.
Flipdish, the food delivery start-up valued at more than a billion euros earlier this year, announced job cuts in a bid to contain costs instead of hiring 700 jobs over the course of the year. year as she had previously planned.
Payments company Stripe also said it would lay off 14% of the global workforce, roughly equivalent to 1,000 people.
