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Despite record growth in iPhone exports from India, Apple shares continued to decline, allowing Microsoft to come closer to becoming the most expensive company in the world once more. The development of Indian manufacturing has failed to offset investor concerns about the tightening of U.S. trade duties, while Microsoft is strengthening its position by dominating the field of artificial intelligence. This shift is also reflected in broader market trends — with Apple’s underperformance weighing on the Dow Jones Index, where the company holds significant influence.
In 2024, iPhone exports from India increased by 54%, reaching $17 billion. Now, every seventh iPhone in the world is made there. However, China is still Apple’s central manufacturing hub, accounting for 80% of global assembly.
Regardless of successfully diversifying supply chains, Apple’s capitalization has fallen by 23% in recent months — to $2.88 trillion. Investors are concerned about new US customs duties on electronics imports.
The Trump administration is actively encouraging the transfer of production from China to other countries, including India. However, the new duties may affect Indian exports as well.
In a situation with rising import duties from China, such a decision may be a good way to prevent a price surge of Apple products for American consumers for some time. Now, duties on all Chinese goods are staggering 145%. Meanwhile, India can get off with an increase in duties to 36%, which is still creating risks for Apple.
Since half of Apple’s revenue depends on iPhone sales, investors fear lower margins due to rising logistics costs triggered by tariffs. However, such high volatility can create profitable opportunities for traders using automated trading software. Given rising tariffs on imports from China, that kind of solution could be effective to help investors mitigate losses from the rapid price rise.
Microsoft remains one of the few companies in the American stock market whose business is more or less insulated from the impact of uncertainty with customs tariffs. The software giant has held the company’s status with the largest capitalization in the world since the beginning of 2024 but later gave way to Apple.
While Apple is assessing risks, Microsoft is strengthening its position through investments in artificial intelligence with a range of its products.
- Copilot integration in Windows and Office.
- Partnership with OpenAI (ChatGPT, Dall-E).
- AI-powered Azure cloud services.
Previously, Nvidia briefly captured the status of the world’s most expensive company — its AI chips have become a key asset in the technology race. However, after the market correction, its capitalization dropped below $3 trillion, and now is stacked between Microsoft and Apple.
In early 2024, these three tech-giants broke the $3 trillion milestone, with Nvidia stock being the major gainer as a result of a high demand for its GPUs. However, the recent market corrections have shifted investors priorities.
- Apple is suffering from dependence on China and iPhone sales.
- Microsoft benefits from AI and cloud technologies.
- Nvidia remains a key player, but its growth is less stable.
If Apple does not accelerate production diversification or find a new growth driver like the AI for its devices, its lag behind Microsoft may increase. At the same time, a further escalation of the trade wars between the United States and China could change the market balance of power once again.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
