Microsoft surpassed Apple, which surpassed 3 trillion dollars in market capitalization for the first time in its history in July last year, as No. 2 in market capitalization. Given that artificial intelligence (AI), which is considered the next game changer in the tech industry after mobile, is in reverse order, it is highly likely that this is not a temporary phenomenon. Analysts say that Microsoft’s rise to No. 1 ranking has made it clear that a company’s fate will be determined by who is ahead or behind in the AI competition. Microsoft’s stock price rose 57% last year alone, and its market capitalization rose 1 on the 12th, with Microsoft’s market capitalization reaching about 2.89 trillion dollars right after the closing of the New York Stock Exchange. It is slightly ahead of Apple, which is 2.87 trillion dollars. Microsoft once touched the top spot in market capitalization the previous day, but its stock price fluctuated and fell back to No. 2 at the closing price. However, it has completely ranked No. 1 in terms of market capitalization in just one day. It is the first time in two years and two months that Microsoft has risen 1 in market capitalization since November 2021. Microsoft’s stock price rose about 3 percent this year, following a 57 percent increase last year. It is taking the benefits of the AI craze that blew in late 2022. Microsoft invested more than 10 billion U.S. dollars in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and as ChatGPT became popular around the world, it quickly incorporated a large-scale language model (LLM) based on ChatGPT into its products and services. Global demand for cloud services has also been boosted by the surge in AI development, which is partly attributable to Microsoft, one of the top three cloud companies. In contrast, Apple’s stock price was smaller (48 percent) than that of Microsoft last year as well, and fell by about 3 percent this year. The sluggishness of the iPhone 15 series that was launched in the fourth quarter of last year, especially its popularity in China, one of the biggest markets for iPhones, has been influenced by its stock price. According to U.S. investment bank Jefferies, iPhone sales in China dropped by 30 percent in the first week of this year compared to last year. Microsoft and Apple are longtime competitors that have been vying for dominance in the tech industry. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple founder Steve Jobs were the same age in 1955. The first to do well was Microsoft, which dominated the personal computer market in the 1990s with Windows at the forefront. However, Apple’s era opened with the launch of the iPhone in 2007. Microsoft, which had a relatively late mobile transition while Apple was on a roll, had its ups and downs, but now it has its second heyday with the advent of the AI era. Of course, Apple is powerful enough to predict how long Microsoft will remain on the throne. Early next month, Apple will start selling its mixed reality (MR) headset “Vision Pro” in the U.S. Although many say that it is hard to expect huge demand due to its 3,500-dollar price, it can open up new opportunities for Apple depending on consumer response. Some tech industry experts predict that Apple will unveil its AI development in June at the developer conference. If Apple participates in the AI war in earnest, the industry will likely be in a state of turmoil again.
JENNIFER KIM
ASIA JOURNAL
