Amazon and Alphabet Poised to Surpass Apple in Market Cap by 2028

Apple's growth prospects have been impacted by headwinds, including tariffs and falling behind in the AI market. Amazon and Alphabet are capitalizing on growth opportunities, particularly in the cloud computing and AI markets. Both companies could outperform Apple in the next three years, with Amazon's cloud unit, AWS, and advertising business representing key growth drivers.

Apple Inc. is poised to revolutionize its search capabilities with the upcoming launch of World Knowledge Answers, an AI-powered search tool that will be integrated into Siri and Safari. Scheduled for release in the spring of 2026, this new system aims to transform Siri into a robust "answer engine," capable of providing multimodal answers that blend text, images, video, and local results [1].

The development of World Knowledge Answers is part of a broader overhaul of Siri, Apple's digital assistant. The new system will leverage large language models (LLMs) to generate more conversational and accurate responses. Apple is also considering integrating the search tool into Spotlight, the search feature on the iPhone home screen [2].

Apple's collaboration with Google is a key aspect of this initiative. The company will utilize Google's Gemini AI model to power the new search experience, marking a deepening alliance between the two tech giants [2]. This partnership is seen as a strategic move to keep pace with AI advancements and to compete effectively with other AI-driven search tools like OpenAI and Perplexity [3].

The integration of World Knowledge Answers into Siri and Safari could significantly impact Apple's search-related revenue. Currently, Apple generates approximately $20 billion annually from its Google search deal. The new AI-powered search tool could increase this revenue by offering a more competitive and integrated search experience [3].

Gene Munster, a prominent tech analyst, believes that Apple's AI bar is low for the next six months, but the move to develop World Knowledge Answers could enhance Apple's AI capabilities and increase its annual search-related revenue [1].

The development of World Knowledge Answers also raises questions about Apple's broader AI strategy and its potential impact on market dynamics. If finalized, the collaboration with Google could solidify Google's role in Apple's AI future while potentially marginalizing smaller players like Perplexity [2].

In contrast, Amazon and Alphabet are capitalizing on growth opportunities, particularly in the cloud computing and AI markets. Both companies could outperform Apple in the next three years, with Amazon's cloud unit, AWS, and advertising business representing key growth drivers [2].

Amazon is the biggest cloud computing company in the world through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. Amazon had a commanding 30% of the global cloud computing business in the second quarter, topping Microsoft Azure (20%) and Google Cloud (13%), according to Synergy Research Group. The cloud computing space is continuing to grow rapidly, reaching $99 billion in the second quarter, up 20% from a year ago. And Amazon saw $30.87 billion in revenue from AWS in the quarter, up 17.5% from the same period a year ago. Even better is the profit margin. While Amazon made only $9 billion from its massive e-commerce sales, it brought in $10.16 billion in net profits from its comparatively smaller AWS. That's why AWS is decidedly the biggest driver for Amazon's future [2].

Alphabet's No. 1 business is advertising. The company's massively popular Google search engine maintains a roughly 90% global market share, despite concerns that chatbots like ChatGPT or Grok would eat into Google Search. Instead, Google's AI-powered search engine is helping to strengthen the company's moat. Alphabet says AI Overviews have more than 2 billion users every month, reaching users in 200 countries and territories. In the second quarter, Google Search revenue increased 12% from a year ago to reach $54.19 billion. Overall, Google Services revenue was $82.5 billion for the quarter, up 12% from a year ago [2].

In conclusion, Apple's push into AI-powered search represents a significant step forward in its digital assistant and web browser capabilities. The integration of World Knowledge Answers into Siri and Safari could reshape how billions of queries are handled on iPhones and iOS devices. However, Amazon and Alphabet, with their strong positions in cloud computing and AI, are likely to outperform Apple in the next three years.

References:
[1] https://searchengineland.com/apple-world-knowledge-answers-ai-search-461569
[2] https://www.webpronews.com/apple-to-revamp-siri-with-googles-gemini-ai-for-2026-search-tool/
[3] https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/apple-plans-ai-powered-web-search-tool-for-siri-to-rival-openai-perplexity-125090400093_1.html