It’s hard not to blame any of the current problems in society on the economy. It has an all encompassing reach that controls everything we see, breath, and touch. If you follow the markets at all, particularly tech company stocks, you’ll notice that the last few days to a week, Apple has been steadily climbing at a time when other companies’ are still falling. Why? It doesn’t make any sense. Though the last several months have been a roller coaster ride for Apple. With Steve’s health news changing daily and stockholders practically having strokes of their own, Apple stock prices have so far gone through a pretty hefty storm of media and controversy. At least it’s a turn around from their low of $78.20 that they reached a few weeks ago. But, it’s a far cry from their near $200 a share that they almost reached last summer. What could cause a company as innovative and cutting edge as Apple to drop like a tank?
While Apple has been making pretty smart decisions design and marketing wise lately, they aren’t without some fault. For instance, a large part of their income still rests on iPods. I’m not knocking them in any way as in my household of two we have 4-5. I’m sure I’m not alone. Clearly everyone and their mother and their mothers mothers dog has one. They shouldn’t discontinue it. That would be absurd. But they have to keep innovating and quick, before the “newness” wears off and people start looking for new gadgets to play with. They will only be able to sustain iPod sales for so long, even after innovating the aging line. Eventually something will have to take its place.
The iPhone is still a market leader however, a lot has changed since June of ’07. There are full touchscreen phones popping up left and right like it’s no bodies business. Granted a good deal of these phones aren’t “smartphones” and because of that aren’t really competing directly against the iPhone. However phones like the Google’s G1 and the Blackberry Storm show that competitors are listening and trying to respond accordingly. The iPhone has a lot of potential left in it. With rumors of the next latest and greatest iPhone surfacing this summer, the mind starts running with all sorts of ideas of what Apple is adding to the next iPhone to keep it ahead of the pack.
Apple focuses on quality over quantity. Something that most of the companies in any market ignore these days. They are all about big profit, cheap cost. Now don’t get me wrong, Apple is certainly looking for more money as that’s what business’s do. It’s the approach and the way they design, manufacture, and market their products that sets them apart from the majority. However that quality comes at a price. The infamous “apple tax” that Microsoft loves to knock on. Currently the cheapest Apple product you can buy is the iPod Shuffle. While a great device, not everyone wants or needs one. Next up is the $599 Mac Mini. Not bad, but there are dozens of products form other competitors just waiting to snap up potential Apple customers. After the Mac Mini, you won’t touch another Apple computer for under $999, the old white Mac Book. New laptop shoppers should note that the white MacBook is currently one of the best Apple deals ever. Spec wise it is very competitive with other manufacturers not to mention it has one thing other manufacturers don’t…OS X. Once you break the magical $1000 mark prices rise upwards pretty quickly. As you can gather, admission to the Apple Club is pretty pricey which does turn away some buyers. But, there’s a certain loyalty or cult following that Apple has gained over the years. This following has helped get Apple through good times and bad. Regardless if you love or hate Apple or just can’t afford them, they do make some pretty darn awesome products.
*5-Day Apple Stock Price*
Emerging from the holiday shopping season is always a tense time for investors, stockholders, and company employees alike as yearly earnings reports are released. Everyone is biting their nails wondering if they made it, are they going to have to downsize, the list goes on. With record earnings and sales in every area, (except iPod sales which unsurprisingly started to plateau), they reached new records of $1.61 billion ($1.78 per share) in profit on sales reaching $10.7 billion. Apple continuing to climb even at a time where everyone is losing shows that Apple is weathering the storm better than most.
*6-Month Apple Stock Price*
Currently AAPL is sitting at $99.72 which is which is a steady incline from what they were sitting at 5 days ago around $88 per share though again, a far cry from the past summers higher of almost $200. Is this a sign of a close and brighter future for Apple’s stock? It’s too early to tell. News could come out tomorrow telling of Steve Jobs imminent death and the stock could plummet. However that’s highly doubtful. If Apple’s stock does continue to rise it could signal that they are in fact one of the stronger tech companies. As mentioned earlier if they can start bouncing back now, earlier than pretty much everyone else in the sector than they will be sitting pretty this summer and into the fall. When the recession is *supposedly* supposed to start easing up. Though with each day that goes by that date sinks further towards 2010.
*1-Year Apple Stock Price*
Recessions don’t last forever and sooner or later everyone, (the most resilient companies anyway), will emerge leaner, stronger, and more focused. It might just happen that Apple ends up leading the pack.
Source: Yahoo Finance, IT Management, Market Watch
Pingback: New Gadgets | Gadgetsteria » Is Apple the first tech company to start emerging …