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5 NEWS 5.1.2023 Apple market value drops below $2 trillion APPLE'S share price in 2022 and now 2023 reflects the turmoil the iPhone maker continues to face in the new year. Apple's stock market value shrank 3.74 percent on Tuesday following its steep drop in 2022 – leaving the tech giant with a market valuation be- low $2 trillion for the first time since March 2021. The decline is noteworthy for one of leading tech firms in the world, considering it was this time last year ( January 2022) when Apple became the first company ever to reach the $3 trillion market capitalisation mile- stone, after its shares hit a record high of $182.88. But on Tuesday its shares closed down 3.74 percent at $125.07, valuing the firm at $1.99 trillion, after Exane BNP Paribas analyst Jerome Ramel downgraded the company to "neutral" from "outperform," slashing his price target to $140 from $180, according to Refinitiv Eikon. Reuters cited a Nikkei report citing unnamed suppliers that investors are also worried that a slowing global economy and high inflation may be hurting demand for Apple devices. The Nikkei report also pointed out that Apple has told suppliers to man- ufacture fewer parts for its ear buds, watches and laptops. According to Reuters, Jerome Ramel cut his iPhone shipment targets for fiscal 2023 to 224 million units from 245 million units, reflecting supply chain issues from manufacturer Fox- conn and consumers cutting back spending on high-end phones. Reuters noted that with investors worried about consumer demand, analysts on average expect Apple to report a 1 percent drop in Decem- ber-quarter revenue in the coming weeks, according to Refinitiv. That would mark Apple's first quar- terly revenue decline since the March quarter of 2019. "They (Apple) tend to skew to the high-end consumer device custom- er but even that demographic might be being affected by the high price of everything," Bokeh Capital Partners' Kim Forrest was quoted as saying. Apple's share price experienced a 27 percent drop in 2022, yet despite this Apple has posted stellar returns to long-term shareholders. Market capitalisations Apple had become the first publicly listed US company worth $1 trillion back in August 2018. In August 2020, as the Coronavirus pandemic was engulfing the world, Apple breached the $2 trillion valua- tion. Then in January 2022 it surpassed (briefly) the $3 trillion mark. But Apple is not alone as being a tech company in the exclusive trillion dol- lar valuation club. Rivals including Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet (Google's parent) also breached the $1 trillion valuation a couple of years ago. Amazon is currently worth $875bn (down from $1.72 trillion last year), and Alphabet is now worth $1.15 tril- lion (down from $1.92 trillion). Microsoft is the only firm close to Apple, as Redmond is currently val- ued at $1.78 trillion (down from $2.51 trillion in 2022). Tesla is now valued at $341 billion down from $1.20 trillion in 2022, but Saudi Aramco is valued at about $7 trillion. Facebook parent company Meta Platforms breached the $1 trillion milestone in June 2022 but is current- ly valued at just $331.5 billion. The combined stock market value of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta now accounts for about 18 percent of the S&P 500, down from as much as 24 percent in 2020. Share price decline continues in 2023 as Apple's market value slips below $2 trillion, aer it was the first to reach $3 trillion milestone