Apple's Shocking Market Decline In Perspective

Last week proved hugely dramatic for Apple with its stock tumbling nearly ten percent by the close of Thursday trading. The company cut its forecast for its first fiscal quarter due to slowing economic growth in China and a drop in demand for iPhones. The situation did improve on Friday when the company was up 4.3 percent at the end of trading but it did end the week down 5.1 percent. Thursday was Apple's worst day trading since 2013 and the company lost just over $450 billion in market capitalization since October 3, 2018.

Some analysts claimed the slump was little more than a minor blip while others claimed it is a major disaster. Either way, the scale of the wipeout is colossal. As the following infographic shows, the $452 billion loss is higher than the market capitalization of Facebook and six times the size of Starbucks' market value.

Apple beat Amazon to claim the title of the world's first trillion-dollar company after its shares reached $207.05. After the crash on Thursday, its market capitalization sank to $674 billion before recovering slightly to $703 billion with shares worth $142.19. There is an obvious lack of a game-changing product in Apple's pipeline and some observers have suggested it takes the unprecedented step of acquiring another company to improve its fortunes and satisfy investors. Given its track record, however, such a move appears highly unlikely.