Posted on 11/02/2012 7:04:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Apple Inc.’s shares are now down nearly 15% since they briefly passed the $700 mark in mid-September.
The decline began shortly after Apple’s new Maps app started to get panned by reviewers following the launch of the iPhone 5 on Sept. 21. Jean-Louis Gassée, a former Apple executive and venture capitalist, wrote in his blog barely a week later that the company lost nearly $30 billion in market value after the “Maps fracas” and subsequent apology to customers by Chief Executive Tim Cook. Read more on Gassée’s blog.
The shares continued their slide through October. The latest pinch happened on Wednesday, after the two-day trading hiatus, when the stock slipped nearly 1.5% in reaction to the company’s biggest management shake-up in years, which pushed out the polarizing head of mobile software, Scott Forstall.
While analysts have tried to soothe investors that all is well with their beloved Apple, there are increasing jitters about the changes in Cupertino, Calif., in the post-Steve Jobs era. Read: Apple’s Forstall leaving in shake-up.
“The vacuum left by Steve’s death has not been filled, and a fight has broken out,” said Stephen Diamond, associate professor of law at Santa Clara University. “Now the first bodies are being thrown overboard. More will follow because Cook does not have the ability to assert credible leadership in a company that requires, by definition, a creative and dynamic leader.”
That perspective is still in the minority. The Wall Street Journal noted Wednesday that Apple, under Cook, is run “more smoothly than under Mr. Jobs, when employees lived in constant fear of falling victim to a Jobs tirade or a whim,” and that the recent shake-up demonstrates Cook’s resolve to “tackle thorny personnel issues that Mr. Jobs let fester.”
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
All I need is a phone ... Milk and eggs ? .. OK ... I'll be home around 6 .. luv'ya
Follow that with the lame I-Pad mini which undercuts their whole philosophy of advancement with more of a cash in your chips play is telling.
The finance guys have taken over and the visionaries are back in their place (their cubes). They need to beat their Chinese workers harder, more often, and with bigger whips.
I very much doubt that Mr. Jobs was able to convey that vision to anyone else, or (at least) to anyone who - in addition to being able to see and appreciate his vision - also has the ability to run a huge corporation.
This is why I don't expect Apple to continue as the dynamo of technological and social leadership it was when Mr. Jobs was alive.
Like Hewlett-Packard, Apple was the embodiment of a very personal vision of a highly intelligent, very strong-willed person.
It has been done a few times. The concept of Walt Disney outlived him. Perhaps Intel will outlive Noyce and Moore in the way IBM has outlived Thomas Watson and Xerox has outlived Chester Carlson.
But I wouldn't bet on it. Steve himself said "death is nature's greatest invention," and what takes the place of Apple will be even greater.
The person who will be the next Steve Jobs is alive today, somewhere. The next Apple is a clear vision in that person's mind.
Uh oh. The stock is all the way down to $590.25 per share! Awwwww!!!
Oh, as one who worked for one of these and now works for the other, let me assure you that both have MORE than "outlived" their founders. In a big way.
Obvioiusly Jobs was a dynamic leader, but Apple can and will survive without them, provided they allow themselves to continue to be a technology company, and all that that entails.
If on the other hand they begin to behave like MS they will continue to exist, but like MS has fallen, they too will fall.
I think mountains are being made out of molehills, as with most things around Apple these days... good and bad. Is the iPad Mini a revolution? Not really, its a response to a market demand... reactionary more than visionary, but its not a bad play.
What was overlooked due to the iPad Mini launch was the update of their mac lines, which while the PC may be dying, there is no doubt Apple is making some good money selling PC’s and will for quite some time, in fact what is amazing is how many techies have adopted Mac... Its no longer just the preference of folks doing graphics or the chic... I just attended a conference last month that had nothing to do with apple at all, tech emploiyees from all over the world, and at least 50% were using Apple, and every single presenter was using an apple device.... And this was not a conference associated in any way with Apple.
I am curious to see what apple has in the wings, I have to believe apple is up to something, beyound just the next versions of their current hardware.. but what that is.. I am not privvy to... when it will come out who knows.
Will it all be gold? of course not... anyone remember the newton? or NeXT? How about the LISA? Not everything Jobs or Apple did was golden, nor will everything they do in the future... but I wouldn’t bet against them.. if they much with their culture, they will be in trouble.. everything else is just white noise IMHO.
Uh oh. The stock is all the way down to $590.25 per share! Awwwww!!!Considering it was $55 when I bought it in (I think) 2006, it's done quite well.
Unfortunately, I got nervous and sold it a long time ago (for a reasonable profit).
Outstanding comment. Let's just hope that we have an economic system that allows for it to take off and grow.
I think the iPad Mini was good in theory, but it was a complete failure in execution.
With its low resolution display (lower than even last year's model of the Kindle Fire which you can buy new from Amazon for less than half the price), I just don't see why anyone would want to buy an iPad Mini for $329 when they can pick up last year's full sized iPad 2 or a refurbished iPad 3 for about the same price.
Just some left over off the shelf parts.
Spam Spam Cheese and Spam.
RE: “Starting”? It was already unraveling with Steve Jobs.
How so? Apple was at its peak in popularity with LONG LINES in its store when Jobs was in charge.
Hmmm, hard to say about that one. Perhaps it's a move to counter the up-scaling of eReaders?
I rooted a Simple Touch, and while not the best platform, it does add value.
7 inch tablets are great. love my $100 tablet. My 84 year old dad loves his 7” tab as he found a 10” ipad too heavy.
Apple will sell a load of ipad minis to those who must have apple stuff.
-sent from my 7” coby 7042
One of the really cool things I like is the Youversion Bible application. It's the best Bible application I've seen, though like all software it has its annoyances. I'd recommend it to anyone with a tablet device.
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