Short sellers have circled Apple on the eve of the tech giant’s highly-anticipated iPhone launch, with the tech giant becoming America’s most bet-against company.

Short interest in the company has surpassed bets against Amazon and Tesla in dollar terms recent days, as traders predict that the share price surge that recently made Apple the world’s first trillion-dollar company will not last.

Short sellers “borrow” shares and sell them, predicting that they will be able to profit from a fall in a company’s share price by buying the shares back more cheaply in future. Almost $10bn (£7.7bn) worth of Apple shares are now out on loan after a recent increase in shorting, according to data from S3 Partners.

Although the shorting represents only a fraction of Apple’s $1.05 trillion market value, traders are now deploying more capital against the company than other targets. Short interest in Apple, which now totals $9.8bn, surpassed Amazon’s $9.6bn and Tesla’s $8.7bn last week.

The rise reflects a small but growing number of traders who believe that the company’s growth prospects are fading as Apple prepares for the highly-anticipated launch of its latest gadgets.