Nvidia has lost its position as the world's most valuable company to Apple as its stock price continues to decline amid weakness across the semiconductor industry.

While Nvidia maintains dominant competitive advantage in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market, complex negative factors such as supply chain issues and product launch delays are weighing on investor sentiment.

▲ Apple Reclaims Top Spot in Market Capitalization Ahead of Nvidia

According to the International Business Times (IBT) on the 28th (local time), Nvidia's stock price fell approximately 5% on the 27th, reducing its market capitalization to around $4.77 trillion.

Meanwhile, Apple's stock price rose approximately 1%, bringing its market capitalization close to $5 trillion, with investor expectations reflected ahead of the company's earnings announcement scheduled for the 30th.

Apple raised product prices in June to reflect the impact of a global semiconductor supply shortage, and the upcoming earnings report is expected to explain the supply chain situation and its business impact.

▲ First Time Nvidia Has Ceded Top Position Since June 2025

This is the first time Nvidia has lost the top position in global market capitalization since June 2025.

This trend continued in the next trading session, with Nvidia recording additional declines while Apple maintained its upward momentum.

According to CNBC, Nvidia's stock price has risen only about 4% so far this year, while Apple's has risen approximately 24%.

Apple's superior performance compared to the market has been attributed to its strategy of leasing AI computing capacity instead of building large-scale proprietary AI infrastructure.

▲ Next-Generation AI System Launch Delayed Over One Year

Nvidia's next-generation rack-unit AI system, "Kyber NVL144," is expected to be launched more than one year later than originally anticipated.

The schedule has been postponed due to technical issues arising in the manufacturing process of core components.

The company faces both explosive demand for AI semiconductors from cloud service providers and export restrictions to China.

Additionally, governments worldwide are actively promoting domestic semiconductor production expansion and supply chain stability to address geopolitical risks, further complicating the market environment.

Nvidia [Reuters/Yonhapnews]

▲ PCB Midplane Production Difficulties as Key Cause

According to market research firm SemiAnalysis, the Kyber NVL144 rack architecture was originally scheduled for launch in 2027, but is now expected to be delayed to 2028.

The key cause of the delay has been analyzed as the production difficulty of the "PCB midplane," a specialized multi-layer printed circuit board connecting major modules within the rack, being higher than anticipated.

▲ Next-Generation AI Platform Integrating 144 GPUs

The Kyber system is designed to house 144 of Nvidia's highest-performance GPUs in a single rack to function as a unified integrated computing system.

This enables more efficient performance of training and inference tasks for large-scale generative AI models.

A key feature is the application of a vertical compute tray structure instead of the traditional horizontal arrangement, increasing computing density and reducing latency.

Nvidia first unveiled this architecture alongside the Vera Rubin Ultra platform at the GTC Developer Conference held earlier this year.

▲ Discontinuation of Existing Intermediate Design

This launch delay is assessed as a case demonstrating Nvidia's ongoing changes to its product roadmap.

SemiAnalysis reported that Nvidia has also discontinued the "NVL72x2 Back-to-Back" rack design, an intermediate product originally under consideration.

The design was intended to combine two current-generation racks to provide similar levels of computational performance until Kyber's launch.

However, cloud service providers and hyperscale customers raised objections citing overly complex system architecture and significant operational burden, leading Nvidia to ultimately withdraw the design.

▲ Supply Chain Variables and Product Schedules as Key Stock Price Factors Going Forward

The market notes that while demand for AI semiconductors remains steady, Nvidia's delayed next-generation product schedules and supply chain uncertainties may lead to near-term stock price pressure.

Meanwhile, Apple has expanded market trust and reclaimed the top spot in market capitalization based on its AI investment strategy and stable business structure.