Apple’s market valuation drops below $2 trillion as shares plummet 3% on first day of trading in 2023

Apple’s market shares fell more than three percent in trading on Tuesday, pushing the tech giant’s valuation below $2 trillion for the first time since last spring.

Shares of the iPhone maker fell 3.74 percent, giving the company a share value of $130.20 and a total valuation of $1.99 trillion. The decline put the company at a 12-month low on the first trading day of 2023.

Tuesday’s drop came after a difficult holiday season for Apple, which saw shipments stalled by COVID restrictions at its main iPhone factory in China.

The valuation has also fallen amid increasing declines in general consumer confidence – which should worry investors – as the US economy remains shaky after the recent economic downturn.

Although Apple released the iPhone 14 in September, shipments of the latest phone in the fourth quarter were down 22 percent from initial forecasts. TrendForce.

In response to delays caused by the recent spate of COVID infections in China – Apple’s main manufacturing country – the company has sought to cut costs by manufacturing their products with fewer components, according to Nikkei.

Apple first crossed the $2 trillion valuation mark in August 2020 in the throes of the pandemic, as sales of iPhones and laptops soared as customers self-supplied for remote work and education.

One year ago today, Apple was worth about $3 trillion.

The tech giant is only the latest company to lose its $2 trillion valuation — Microsoft also dipped below the mark earlier this year.

Apple valuation of the past month

Workers (pictured in August) line up to get tested for COVID-19 at the Foxconn factory in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province. Workers at the Zhengzhou iPhone factory have faced COVID-19 restrictions for weeks and have taken to the streets over their working conditions

COVID-19 restriction protests (pictured) have recently broken out, in a rare display of government defiance in the communist country

A protest broke out near the Apple factory and the government ordered a five-day quarantine

The downturn comes on the heels of reports that Apple is planning to move parts of its production out of China after violent government protests slowed the company’s production — while CEO Tim Cook sees Vietnam and India as new hubs.

Apple has accelerated plans to exit Zhengzhou, China — where iPhone City is located — in recent weeks, a source told the Wall Street Journal.

COVID-19 protests and wage disputes have erupted in the city, which employs up to 300,000 workers, shattering Apple’s busiest time of the year with production and delivery delays.

Consumers are facing the longest wait times in the iPhone’s 15-year history, with shipping dates estimated after Christmas, WSJ said. In addition, Apple’s Q4 productions are about 10 million less than expected, with iPhone Pro and Pro Max the hardest hit.

In November, the company released a statement that iPhone backups could take place due to health restrictions in Zhengzhou. It now looks to India and Vietnam to become less dependent on Taiwan-based assemblers led by Foxconn Technology Group.

Insider claim: Apple could be developing a new, cheaper version of its wireless earbuds that will help it keep pace with competitors, industry sources suggest. The tech giant is rumored to be working on a product called ‘AirPods Lite’. Pictured are Apple’s AirPods Pro 2

To counter the rocky financial start to 2023, Apple could develop a new, cheaper version of its wireless earbuds that will help it keep up with the competition, industry sources suggest.

The tech giant is rumored to be working on a product dubbed “AirPods Lite,” amid fears that demand for its third-generation AirPods will decline in 2023.

Few details have been shared – and the company has not commented on the claims – but the cheaper earbuds are expected to cost somewhere under $129, which is what the second-generation AirPods currently cost.

The technology has proven very popular among Apple users, but it doesn’t come cheap – and with no indication of a date for the fourth-generation AirPods this year, there’s a gap for the company to potentially launch a new product.