Second Investor Dumps Shares as Apple Stock Drops to Near Two-Year Low

[raybo]

To get more market share, Apple should keep and update the old non-retina MacBook to the current Air screen resolution of 1440×900, upgrade it to 500GB SSD / 8GB RAM / 6100 graphics and offer it for $799 or $899, and offer the current 1.1 GHz Retina MacBook starting at $999. http://www.cnet.com/news/the-macbook-mess-or-why-its-so-hard-to-pick-an-apple-laptop/

 

[smacrumon]

Bye, bye. Farewell all speculators! Shares could drop to $20 and it wouldn't matter one bit. Stock rise and fall. The only thing that does matter is Apple focusing on being the best at what it does. That's the thing that counts most. Customers will continue to align with Apple only if they design the best products and services in every aspect, price them fairly, going for increasing install base.

 

[Zirel]

To get more market share, Apple should keep and update the old non-retina MacBook to the current Air screen resolution of 1440×900, upgrade it to 500GB SSD / 8GB RAM and offer it for $799 or $899, and offer the current 1.1 GHz Retina MacBook starting at $999. http://www.cnet.com/news/the-macbook-mess-or-why-its-so-hard-to-pick-an-apple-laptop/

To get even more market share, they should give away top-of-the-line MBP's.

 

[cardfan]

I dumped my Apple stock months ago. If you waited til now? lol It doesn't mean they're doomed. It's not a zero sum game. It just means there's other stocks I'd rather buy at this point. Apple could be one of those but it'll be when the price is right. Apple isn't the super growth stock the iphone made it into anymore. It'll be a value stock. I don't mind owning the world's number one brand but not during this transition that most savvy investors saw coming.

 

[raybo]

To get even more market share, they should give away top-of-the-line MBP's.

PC prices are dropping, yet newer Apple laptops are all over $1K. I think that with decent Windows 10 laptops at sub $499 levels, for many folks it's getting more difficult to justify spending over $1K on your kid's 1st laptop...One reason Apple is popular with college students is that they had hands-on experience with Macs in Middle and High School... The old Whitebook was everywhere, every kid wanted one.

 

[Jeff750]

This is a great point. They talk so often on how they strive for the customer experience. I get asked a lot being in IT to recommend phones and computers for people. I honestly have a tough time suggesting a base Mac with a 5400rpm drive, or an iPhone with 16GB that I've seen non-tech people run into full storage issues so often just from taking photos and videos and then feeling uneasy when they hear they have to spend additional money every month to keep backups and photos working.

I know they really try to push the margins on these devices, but something like fusion drives standard (really should be an SSD in every Mac now) and ample storage (local and iCloud) to last before needing to spend additional every month would really improve the experience.

What about BASE MAC don't you understand? You can outfit ALL Macs with solid state drives. THE BUYER GETS TO CHOOSE.
You're such a whiney little [fill in your word of choice].

 

[AleXXXa]

I find investing fascinating..... What I find even more fascinating is how much panic you can create so easily that causes people to start dumping shares. I am not an economist or mathematician but up and downs are completely inevitable. You an't sustain significant growth indefinitely. Since most of apple's revenue comes from the iPhone it had to happen sooner or later because there are only so many people with smart phones and let's be honest, the update from year to year is so insignificant that it just doest warrant you to get out and grab a new one. Except of course for the enthusiasts.... I'm actually hoping it will slip more so I can buy more of it because it will be back. Every few years there is a significant breakthrough in technology that pushes it back up.

So you have no idea how this stuff works, but you want to buy more stocks. Top kek.

 

[Mactendo]

I didn't read the article and am very ignorant in the subject, but I always heard that 'investing 101' is buy low sell high', not sell when a company goes to an all time low.

I'm sure they know what they're doing. They're millionaires and...here I am...

Cause they know it's not an all time low, it will be much lower in the near future.

 

[mistafro]

This is simple sell well still reasonably high before some possibly volatile situations could bring the stock down considerably, then buy again...

If these rumours are true of a completely new form factor for the iPhone in 2017 you can bet many of them will be making a big stock purchase months before the stock spikes again.

 

[Jeff750]

Apple needs this bad spell to wake up.
I agree with everything people are saying here about macs being outdated.
It's frankly embarrassing.

Have you used a windoze machine lately? Have you tried to do anything remotely productive in an office setting with a windoze machine? It's like using a chalkboard to do word processing. The Mac ecosystem is so far ahead of everything else out there it isn't even close. I supply all my own equipment and support at work because I just couldn't take the productivity hit any longer. And it's been great. The only thing I do in windoze now is open up that creaky, heavy brick of a PC laptop every 3 months to change my central corporate password. And it's like stepping back into the nineties when I do it. Get some perspective - MS, Google, they both suck.

 

[senseless]

As long as Apple can pay a dividend, there's some support here. I don't see a huge drop, maybe a slow grinding downwards move as big gainers sell out to lock in profits.

You know what? I don't have any credentials in finance, but some of you think I know what I'm talking about. Buy mutual funds.

 

[Jeff750]

Apple needs this bad spell to wake up.
I agree with everything people are saying here about macs being outdated.
It's frankly embarrassing.

I could't disagree more. I left windoze machines behind a long time ago because they drove me to such crappy, inefficient work flows. I like the way our college intern put it when people asked why she used a Mac at work. Her reply, which I've adopted, is succinct and insightful. She said, "I can do something in 10 minutes or in 5 minutes. I'd rather get it done in 5 minutes. That's why I use a Mac."

 

[CEmajr]

To get more market share, Apple should keep and update the old non-retina MacBook to the current Air screen resolution of 1440×900, upgrade it to 500GB SSD / 8GB RAM / 6100 graphics and offer it for $799 or $899, and offer the current 1.1 GHz Retina MacBook starting at $999. http://www.cnet.com/news/the-macbook-mess-or-why-its-so-hard-to-pick-an-apple-laptop/

It's clear that to get marketshare Apple should make the base Macbook $299 and release the iPhone 7 with 32GB of storage for $199 and BOGO. Clearly the Android OEM's who are swimming in profits and success have shown that giving away products is the best way to go.

On a serious note to this topic and the 'doom' in most of the comments. The reality is that Apple is fine. Mainly because the competition is so inept and terrible. They have tons of leeway to "not innovate", whatever that's supposed to mean because Microsoft, Google, and Android companies are disorganized and sloppy in their product offerings. Apple has such a massive lead on them in terms of overall product usability and profit margin that it's ridiculous. Last time I checked the iPhone is still the iconic smartphone of the day and generates almost all of the profit in the industry. Same with the Mac when it comes to computers.

 

[maxsix]

In more ways than one, Apple appears adrift at sea. Good thing they've got a massive war chest of cash... They may need it.

 

[Mildredop]

Please explain what you mean by "social and political correctness"???

Erm... what?

 

[jonnysods]

This story and Ichans is pure stock manipulation. Apple got the most revenue in the whole world.

 

[maxsix]

It's clear that to get marketshare Apple should make the base Macbook $299 and release the iPhone 7 with 32GB of storage for $199 and BOGO. Clearly the Android OEM's who are swimming in profits and success have shown that giving away products is the best way to go.

On a serious note to this topic and the 'doom' in most of the comments. The reality is that Apple is fine. Mainly because the competition is so inept and terrible. They have tons of leeway to "not innovate", whatever that's supposed to mean because Microsoft, Google, and Android companies are disorganized and sloppy in their product offerings. Apple has such a massive lead on them in terms of overall product usability and profit margin that it's ridiculous. Last time I checked the iPhone is still the iconic smartphone of the day and generates almost all of the profit in the industry. Same with the Mac when it comes to computers.

I expect Apple to be around for the long haul.

Too big and wealthy to fail overnight, they're still vulnerable to finding themselves a shadow of their former self. With an unbridled supreme narcissist self image, Apple's their own worst enemy. Further bolstered, at least thus far, by the pandering faithful, reality escapes them.

One thing is certain, this will be a fascinating story to follow.

 

[Tycho24]

PC prices are dropping, yet newer Apple laptops are all over $1K. I think that with decent Windows 10 laptops at sub $499 levels, for many folks it's getting more difficult to justify spending over $1K on your kid's 1st laptop...One reason Apple is popular with college students is that they had hands-on experience with Macs in Middle and High School... The old Whitebook was everywhere, every kid wanted one.

Or maybe they want one notebook that last them through undergrad & grad; that would be 3-4 cheap Windows machines.

 

[unobtainium]

Someday when Apple's stock is back down to $14.95 a share and Cook is gone and all the social & political correctness is purged too bad their can't be a "third coming" of Steve Jobs.
Maybe it can thru someone like Woz but I doubt it.

What does political correctness have to do with any of this? Steve Jobs held the exact same views as Tim Cook (the person he chose to succeed him), and Apple was involved in politics well before Steve died.
[doublepost=1463237449][/doublepost]

Intel is essentially exiting the PC business

How are they "exiting" the business? The pace of performance improvements is slowing, that's all.

 

[kazmac]

So many people here are right on the money. As I've been saying, fix the software and make things "just work" again. Match that beautiful outside with beautiful inside - updated internals and solid software.

In order to help Apple thrive, quality control and a commitment to making great products have to come first. Fix what is broken or breaking and stop spreading yourselves so damn thin. Then watch the stocks and sales rise again.

 

[2010mini]

Erm... what?

In your post you mentioned Tim leaving and Apple ending their social and political correctness. I'm asking you to explain what that has to do with the company's stock value?

 

[MikhailT]

PC prices are dropping, yet newer Apple laptops are all over $1K. I think that with decent Windows 10 laptops at sub $499 levels, for many folks it's getting more difficult to justify spending over $1K on your kid's 1st laptop...One reason Apple is popular with college students is that they had hands-on experience with Macs in Middle and High School... The old Whitebook was everywhere, every kid wanted one.

I seriously doubt the price is the core reason. I'm seeing more and more people buying SP4 with specs over $1k for their kids as well, especially for colleges with OneNote on SP4 providing an amazing experience for school.

However, for casual users, more and more are using their smartphone only with no plans to upgrade their current computers. Almost all of my elders are using iPads only and they used to have netbooks 2-3 years ago. They'd pick the more expensive iPads over 100-300$ netbook anytime.

A lot of folks bought Macs because a few years ago, they were technically still the best machines for Windows as well. Now, it is much more difficult to decide Macs over Surface Pros, Dell XPS 13", HP Spectre and Surface Book. Even the recent Samsung's Notebook 9 looks amazing for its weight/size.

Dell out-innovated Apple with its Infinity Display, it made a lot of the techies crave it, even over the rMBPs.

MS has more utilities in its SP4/SB over Apple and for a lot of people, it's worth it. College students are advised to get these over Macs.

Schools are going with Chromebooks for K-12 kids because they're simple and cheap to replace often considering the abuse they go through.

The price isn't the problem. It's the value that's the problem and right now, the value of Macs are declining the more Apple continues to neglect its software, services, and so on. Windows 10 is getting better faster than iOS and OS X combined, services are better at Google/Microsoft than Apple, and Google's Nexus are improving their cameras fast enough to be closer to iPhones every year.

 

[alvindarkness]

Apple needs this bad spell to wake up.
I agree with everything people are saying here about macs being outdated.
It's frankly embarrassing.

And yet their retail prices just keep going up and up. I think thats the truly insulting part. I dont mind paying a slight Apple tax for equivalent wintel specs, but here we are paying exorbitant amounts for something inferior.

 

[coolfactor]

Yes, I too believe that Apple has become blinded by the nickel-and-diming approach, and distracted by a mission to create new features instead of make sure their current apps and OS's work better than the competition. Finder on OS X is a great example. The "Get Info" window may be good enough, but it's not great. The App Store interfaces are terrible... a "down" arrow for updates? That's just zzz-backwards. Not to mention the horrible font and contrast.

People love to argue the 5400rpm drive situation, and I do agree to a point, but not 100%. A 5400rpm drive itself may be slower, but when combined with SSD-based caching, is it not just as fast as a pure SSD for most file accesses? And a slower-spinning drive would be more reliable over a longer term than a faster-spinning drive. But did Apple make their choice based solely on margins rather than reliability? One has to wonder.

 

[profets]

What about BASE MAC don't you understand? You can outfit ALL Macs with solid state drives. THE BUYER GETS TO CHOOSE.
You're such a whiney little [fill in your word of choice].

Nice touch resorting to insults.

I'd agree with you if we were talking about cheap $300 PCs. However these are $1200+ Macs. All MacBooks have been SSD only for years now (minus the old classic MBP that lingers around). At the least on an iMac if they feel there should be larger storage than a portable, would having a fusion drive (adding even a 64GB SSD for the OS) really hurt their margins?