Apple Faces Second Class Action Lawsuit Threat Over Failing to Warn Investors About Slowing iPhone Demand

[Kaibelf]

hello there Tim
nothing personal just buisness
is not enough to rip off your customers
now you also wants to rip off your investors

Tim you are an extortionist

If you dislike Tim's work so much, you're welcome to buy another brand. Also, regarding your rant about the Mac Pro, Apple said long ago that the new version is coming in 2019. Everyone here knows that. It's been 2019 for FOUR DAYS. Give it a rest, Veruca.

 

[FreshBoy]

That's only because I tend to keep my iPhones for so long that by the time it comes for me to upgrade they really don't have much value as trade ins.

Haha, I understand. It'd be interesting to see how many of the 1.3billion or so iOS devices aren't obsolete.

 

[Arbuthnott]

Sorry? It was Trump that started any chat of tariffs, not China. Everything was going great, ironically right up until the Make America Great Again thing happened. China is the big dog in this fight that it never asked for.

Nonsense. China has been scamming the market for decades. Fixing their exchange rate; manipulating internal costs; creating artificial advantage; dumping of products such as steel in a way that damages other economies. Its just that only the USA called them out on it. First they were warned, then there were tariffs, next there will be a trade war that China can't win. So just wait until they fold - it won't be long.

 

[Plutonius]

It's the stock-exchange, the unregulated casino - what did people expect?

Exactly.

Who thinks that these investors should give back their earnings from when the Apple stock prices were going up because iPhone sales were higher then expected ?

 

[jayducharme]

Apple's logo with the bite taken out of it is becoming metaphorical.

If Apple was blindsided by the poor sales in China, then their November report is understandable. But if they indeed were blindsided, it shows poor knowledge of the economic, political and cultural conditions there (in relation to Apple products). I'm leaning toward that view, seeing as how they can't seem to crack the market in India either.

 

[Kaibelf]

The profit issue is across the board . As it was in the sculley years . They care more about making $$$ than building great consumer products for the average users

Apple has NEVER catered to "average users." They were ALWAYS more expensive than their PC peers, and geared toward niche creative and education markets, with the candy iMac line being a relatively unexpected hit, and the iPod also hitting the mark. And even then, the prices were at a substantial premium above the cost for "average" users who shopped at Best Buy and the like. Really, stop with the rewriting of history where Apple was in every farmhouse and people used Mac Pros in small business accounting departments.

 

[kenny911]

When the Cell phone companies subsidized phones, I would upgrade every 2 years because it would cost me $200-$300 every 24 months plus selling the old one, I'd do ok. Now that I have to pay the actual cost, I'm keeping my 6s until 2020 or whenever the 5g phones come out. The technology is amazing in these things and it's like having a computer in your pocket but I'm starting to keep my apple products longer and longer because the prices are high.

 

[YaBe]

So investors can file class actions vs Apple but not vs Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is not a company......

 

[HacKage]

Nonsense. China has been scamming the market for decades. Fixing their exchange rate; manipulating internal costs; creating artificial advantage; dumping of products such as steel in a way that damages other economies. Its just that only the USA called them out on it. First they were warned, then there were tariffs, next there will be a trade war that China can't win. So just wait until they fold - it won't be long.

That China can't win? I can't wait to see how that unfolds!

 

[Rojaaemon]

I didn't file that!
Did you file that?

 

[Plutonius]

Rich people problems.

I'm not sure why you think this way.

Many people who aren't rich own 401K plans through their employer. These plans invest in a multitude of places including Apple stock.

 

[I7guy]

Interesting. Is it apple didnt inform investors sooner or just lawyers trying to take advantage of the wealthiest corporation?

 

[Kaibelf]

Nonsense. China has been scamming the market for decades. Fixing their exchange rate; manipulating internal costs; creating artificial advantage; dumping of products such as steel in a way that damages other economies. Its just that only the USA called them out on it. First they were warned, then there were tariffs, next there will be a trade war that China can't win. So just wait until they fold - it won't be long.

Have you been outraged for the past 40 years when these same methods were used to provide you with cheap clothes and shoes? Also, that appetite for cheap good and a certain American lifestyle makes China one of this country's biggest creditors. They can't win? They can just sell off that debt en masse and collapse our entire house of cards.

 

[S.B.G]

In other words, both law firms are investigating whether Apple failed to warn investors about slowing iPhone demand

So, were these "investors" living under a rock this past year or two? Couldn't they see the handwriting on the wall that eventually, especially when Apple increased their iDevice prices into the stratosphere, that consumer demand would wane in the face of such high prices, thus lowering revenue expectations?

 

[sdwaltz]

Not happy with Apple lately, but this is an absolute garbage lawsuit.
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I don't think Apple expected the backlash to be so large. It's like they've had their head in the sand regarding screen size, headphone jack, and pricing.

Pricing, maybe.

Screen size and headphone jack, not so much.

 

[GaryMumford]

Apple's logo with the bite taken out of it is becoming metaphorical.

I hear what your trying to say but to be pedantic, I think you'll find that it's not actually a bite out of the logo!!!

 

[Jamers99]

I think the same thing happened to GoPro with claims of misleading investors.

 

[merkinmuffley]

Anyone know if the top management was dumping stock options last fall?

 

[omihek]

Um... Am I the only one confused? So Apple warns shareholders of slowing iPhone demand in China. Two weeks later, "both law firms are investigating whether Apple failed to warn investors about slowing iPhone demand, particularly in China."

 

[fathergll]

Bitcoin is not a company......

Damn. That was plan B

 

[Shiro_Simba]

Apple has NEVER catered to "average users." They were ALWAYS more expensive than their PC peers, and geared toward niche creative and education markets, with the candy iMac line being a relatively unexpected hit, and the iPod also hitting the mark. And even then, the prices were at a substantial premium above the cost for "average" users who shopped at Best Buy and the like. Really, stop with the rewriting of history where Apple was in every farmhouse and people used Mac Pros in small business accounting departments.

Let’s ignore my average user statement , cause that means different things to different people . I should have been more careful .

My point was that Apple produced value for money computers , I was trying to say that someone with an average income could afford an Apple product .

So, my income in the last two years, has not gone up by over 50% , in line with Apple prices .

 

[Naraxus]

People who don’t understand stocks or markets will think this is serious.

This IS serious. Very serious.

 

[Baymowe335]

This IS serious. Very serious.

So I take it you don't own stocks?

Investors get upset when they lose money and will try anything to recoup losses. It's only a win for lawyers. This is textbook. Apple did nothing wrong and told investors literally a 2 days after quarter end, almost a month early

The numbers from Q4 looked outstanding in China when they reported in November. You can clearly see Apple waited for sales to pick up during Q1, they never did, and Apple let investors know right after the game was over for Q1.

 

[alFR]

It's nothing to do with the actual slowing down of sales, it's the fact that 2 months ago Tim Cook came out and said growth was in double digits for iPhones, yet they had to give their first profit warning in 17 years due to "lower than anticipated iPhone revenue".

Tim Cook said:

"[o]ur business in China was very strong last quarter. We grew 16%, which we're very happy with. iPhone in particular was very strong, very strong double-digit growth there."

(emphasis mine)
The lawyers are investigating whether "Apple and/or its executives may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public", yet surely for it to be misleading it would have to have been either factually incorrect (which it wasn't) or be a forward-looking statement (which it wasn't, he was referring to the previous quarter)? It's well-known for any investment that past performance is not an indicator of future growth, so I'm not sure what the basis of this investigation is (apart from getting a bit of free advertising for the firms concerned from MacRumors et al).
[doublepost=1546618504][/doublepost]

So, were these "investors" living under a rock this past year or two? Couldn't they see the handwriting on the wall that eventually, especially when Apple increased their iDevice prices into the stratosphere, that consumer demand would wane in the face of such high prices, thus lowering revenue expectations?

There is zero evidence this is to do with pricing (if it was, other markets would have been affected too, wouldn't they, yet Apple set revenue records in several other markets): all the evidence is that it was all to do with China. Also, there's zero evidence for the popular "it's because of greedy Tim hiking prices to increase profits" meme, because Apple's gross margins have been the same (37-38%) for the last 5 years. Still, why let facts get in the way of a good rant?

 

[jarman92]

I don't think Apple expected the backlash to be so large. It's like they've had their head in the sand regarding screen size, headphone jack, and pricing.

I guess "head in the sand" = continuous record-breaking quarters, hundreds of millions of phones sold, and 90%+ of profit in the smartphone industry.
[doublepost=1546618670][/doublepost]

Nonsense. China has been scamming the market for decades. Fixing their exchange rate; manipulating internal costs; creating artificial advantage; dumping of products such as steel in a way that damages other economies. Its just that only the USA called them out on it. First they were warned, then there were tariffs, next there will be a trade war that China can't win. So just wait until they fold - it won't be long.

We're already in a trade war, and it's dragging down both economies. And it won't be the centralized, top-down, authoritarian country growing at 6%+ that folds first.