"Apple's Stock Woes: Valuation at Risk Amid Design Critique and iPhone Demand Concerns"

Apple Inc. has experienced a significant drop in stock value at the start of 2024, marking its weakest beginning of the year since 2019 and threatening its position as the world's most valuable company. The decline, attributed to downgrades and a challenging market in China, has brought Apple's market capitalization close to that of Microsoft, which has been less affected and is benefiting from its association with AI and OpenAI's ChatGPT. Apple's market value has decreased to approximately $2.84 trillion, with Microsoft close behind at $2.75 trillion.