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Despite the company’s insistence that it continues to lead the technology world in innovation, those who watch its stock are questioning whether its time as the untouchable leader has run its course.

When the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant reported sales figures that fell short of analyst expectations and flat profit Wednesday, its shares fell more than 10% in after-hours trade, sinking to US$458.78 by 6 p.m.

If the after hours drop holds in tomorrow’s regular trading session, it will be Apple’s worst single-session percentage decrease since the financial crisis and biggest-ever price drop.

Since its stock peaked at more than US$700 in September, the company has lost more than US$230-billion in market capitalization. That loss in value is roughly the same as the entire market cap of fellow market beheamoths IBM, Wal-Mart and Google.

The laws of physics have finally caught up to Apple

“The laws of physics have finally caught up to Apple,” said Colin Gillis, an equity analyst with BGC Partners, adding that he was surprised by the steep plunge in share price but, “When the party’s over everyone storms for the exits.”

“The short answer is its time for some new revenue streams from this company,” he said.

When asked during the conference call whether Apple would consider introducing a larger screen size or variety of screen sizes for its iPhone to keep pace with competitors differentiating themselves on that basis, Mr. Cook appeared to reject the notion that any change was necessary.