Apple (AAPL.US) is approaching a market capitalization of 5 trillion US dollars, pointing finger at Nvidia: the 1999 dollar folding screen duo is a key battle

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the new Apple (AAPL.US) iPhone has arrived. This is probably the ticket for the consumer tech giant to return to the market capitalization throne. And it's not far from that goal.

The stock's recent gains have left its market capitalization just 2% short of the $5 trillion mark. Perhaps even more remarkable is that Apple is currently less than 10% away from surpassing Nvidia (NVDA.US) and becoming the company with the highest market capitalization.

Today, Apple's business is not growing as fast as Nvidia's, but its market capitalization gap is narrowing. Nvidia investors don't need to be too upset either; the stock has risen 26% over the past year. It's just that Apple's stock price soared by more than 40% during the same period. The momentum is on Apple's side, and this was before groundbreaking devices hit the market.

Turn things around

For more than a decade, Apple has followed a predictable pattern: achieving double-digit revenue growth in the fiscal year the revolutionary iPhone model was launched, then slumped into single digits or negative growth for the next two years—in recent years or even more, and only satisfied with gradual smartphone updates.

Apple will end the 2026 fiscal year at the end of this month, achieving its first double-digit revenue growth in five years. The first three quarters to the end of June have been very strong. The new iPhone 18 series launched on Friday should consolidate its good fortune by the end of the 2026 fiscal year. The story didn't end there. Apple is about to do something it hasn't done in 14 years, and it's all pinned on its most expensive iPhone ever.

iPhone Duo

The iPhone Duo will go on sale on October 23. Pre-sale will begin one week early, and the starting price will be at least $1999. That's $800 more than the iPhone 18 Pro that launched last weekend.

It's easy for people to look down on this expensive phone. Apple has also previously lost competitiveness due to excessive pricing. Its Vision Pro mixed reality headset failed to win over the audience due to its hefty price of $3,699. Lisa, Power Mac G4 Cube, and HomePod are also historical examples of Apple testing product pricing flexibility and reaping the results.

However, some analysts believe that the iPhone Duo will find its own audience. The first folding screen iPhone is only the size of a passport when folded, and will earn extra points for fashion. Leading wireless carriers will continue to subsidize mobile phone purchases through multi-year contracts, a condition that Apple's previous high-priced failed products did not have.

As long as the iPhone Duo comes out next month without major flaws — such as the folding screen cracking easily — Apple will sell big in the 2027 fiscal year. Analysts have predicted a 10.5% increase in Apple's revenue next year. If this were true, this would be the first time since FY2012 that Apple has achieved double-digit revenue growth for two consecutive years. That is Duo worth developing.