[News] Apple no longer world's most valuable company

In what has been a reversal of fortune for one of the largest tech companies, Apple has lost the title of "World's Most Valuable Company" after falling stock prices reduced its market cap to below $414 billion - slightly under Exxon's market cap of approximately $417 billion.  Shares of Apple were trading under $450/share at the time of this writing, a huge tumble from the over $700/share price it saw around the time of the launch of the iPhone 5 last year.  This represents a drop of about 36%, just since September.

The stock plummet comes as market researchers and analysts are wondering where Apple goes from here in terms of product innovation.  So much of Apple's edge has been built on staying ahead of their competition...but now that Android handsets and tablets are seen as viable (and in some instances more cost effective) alternatives to iPhones and iPads, the profit margins for the Cupertino tech giant are not what they once were, even a few short years ago.  With new device launches possibly coming as early as March, it remains to be seen if Apple can return to its status as "top dog" anytime soon.

*Source:  USA Today