Salon: Why is Apple fading?

[marmar]

Why is Apple fading?
As the once-unstoppable stock continues its slide, some experts wonder if the company will ever recover

By Salon Staff


Apple stock closed at $513 a share today — that’s down another 1 percent, and rapidly approaching the stock’s lowest price since it began a months-long swoon back in September.

So why is the once-unstoppable favorite suddenly in such a fix?

Yes, Apple is up some 25 percent for the year. But it was only four months ago when the price per share sat at $700.

In the New York Times, economist Edward Zabitsky suggested that “as Samsung has surpassed Apple as the leading handset maker, apps have become more important than the devices that carry them, and handsets are increasingly being evaluated on their ability to access the cloud and interact with other devices.” Zabitsky, long bearish on Apple, suggested those trends are bad news for Apple’s long-term competitive situation. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/26/why_is_apple_fading/

[graham4anything]

1. because Steve Jobs died.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

12. I think that has a lot to do with it...

Both from a nuts and bolts perspective as well as a Cult of Personality perspective.

He was extremely influential with regard to what was called an Apple product and without him at the helm Apple may well just lack the leadership and vision to create stuff that appeals to people.

He was also as much a part of their brand as is the bitten apple, and without him it doesn't feel like the same company...consumers buy things for the oddest reasons and being comfortable with a company or being 'part of a crowd' or 'other' is reason enough in a lot of cases. When things change drastically the trance wears off and they go away.

[PFunk]

2. More like apple is becoming like Microsoft...

i.e. just another money grabbing corporation (only with very pricey PC's-and I'm a mac-not apple fan).

[Paulie]

3. It's profit taking before the end of the year and the changes in tax code next year.

Being up 25% still is in the holy cats range of growth in a year.

Non story.

[justiceischeap]

5. The article makes it sound like at $500+ a stock

they're hurting. I wish I owned some Apple stock--I had the chance to purchase it at $63 and didn't have the money.

[dballance]

4. Because the "Cool Factor" of having an Apple device has faded

People are waking up to the fact that paying a premium price for an Apple device isn't worth it. The Android tablets do probably everything anyone needs to do and cost half as much as an iPad. The smart phones other than the iPhone do everything a person needs to do and cost much less than an iPhone.

People will vote with their purse strings.

I do love my Mac Mini over my Windows 7 computer. It's far easier to use and I'll keep it and my Macbook Pro Laptop. However, I don't have unlimited funds. So I will have to take cost into consideration as I purchase new devices. That's why I purchased a Google Nexus rather than an iPad. It met all my requirements and cost half as much as an iPad. I don't get any sort of "hard-on" by wielding a device with an Apple on the back of it in public.

Sorry Apple, you've outlived the "cool factor." Your devices are all over just like any Microsoft or, say, Motorola device (remember when the Motorola Flip-Phone was the thing?) People have started judging devices on their utility and cost now. We did have that "Great Recession" you may remember when people no longer had free-flowing funds.

[justiceischeap]

6. For me owning an Apple device was never about being cool

but being smart. I still have a functioning 17" laptop from 2000 that works very well. I also have an old tower that still works--can't update it but that doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with it. I could easily use it as a media server. The only reason I don't use my old laptop is because where I work, I needed an Intel-based machine to access Windoze on occasion.

I've now had this laptop for 2 1/2 years and it's still going strong. I have an original iPhone that could still be working if I chose for it too, meanwhile, my roommate was telling me just yesterday that he and his partner need to get new phones 'cause they're dying. He's convinced the T-Mobile phone's are programmed to die right before their contracts are up, so they have to extend their contracts or go phone-less.

Say what you want about Apple products but in my experience, they're built to last. So yeah, it hurts to lay out that initial chunk of change, but I know that I'm going to get 2 things out of it... resale value and a working product that isn't full of bugs. I don't have to worry about virii. I see tons of advantages.

[dballance]

7. You Make Some Good Points

I agree the Apple products have, in my experience, been more durable than the MS-based products. My Macbook is a mid-2007 machine and I have the max 4GB of memory in it. I can still update it to the latest OS-X so far. The point is, with 4GB of memory in it it still outperforms my Windoze machines. Even when I'm using MS-Office for Mac. I'm not sure how many Windows computer users are happily using a five, almost six, year-old machine. And I'm sure I have another couple of years at least with my Macbook.

So you are most likely correct. Maybe the initial cost is higher for an Apple device but it lasts longer so the overall cost of the device is justified.

[justiceischeap]

8. I kinda view non-Apple products

as throwaway electronics. Their customer base must replace their $300-500 PCs every time a new version of windows comes out it seems. I'm pretty certain that unless my laptop actually dies or Apple changes their OS drastically (like with Classic/OS 9), my 17" from 2000 will continue to run and take OS updates. I also must admit, I never buy a new Apple product, I always buy a refurb. It's been sent back to the factory and made good as new but it's cheaper and a bit older. Since it's an Apple, I don't mind that I'm buying a "new" year old product. At this point my Intel-based laptop that I use for like 16 hours a day for the last three years has cost me $500 a year and my two OS updates have cost $60 total, not bad IMO.

[aquart]

11. Still using XP.

[GObamaGO]

13. If the hard drive had not crashed in my desktop about a year ago

I would still be using it (and Windows XP). This desktop machine was bought back in 1999.

[Logical]

9. Apple is arrogant as they come......

Non-Standard connectors for charging devices, etc.

Most the industry have went with the same charging connection. Apple does not to make more money selling chargers.

I write iPad/iPhone apps and they are very closed about what they accept or reject and get annoyed if you want explanations.

They make cool things. But their attitude is bad at times.

The Galaxy S3 is a cool phone.

But they have a cult following. If I was Apple I would release a new model every 3 months. And the same people would line up to get them.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

14. I agree that they could release new models of things quickly and it would sell...

it may get to the point that they have to do something very much like that if they want to stay viable.

In my humble opinion, they were successful because they innovated (and not always in ways we apple folks appreciated...see FCPX), and made stuff that people wanted even before they knew they wanted them; I really wonder if there is enough left in the tank without Jobs to keep making things people want that they can't get elsewhere.

[Logical]

16. I was not a Jobs fan, his temper and rude comments to complainers about Apple.....

seems unprofessional to me. No doubt he was a innovator and a genius. Just not a likable man.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

17. And that's even more interesting regarding his persona...

That he wasn't particularly nice and made (I think) wrong decisions from time to time.

It's all about appearances and most folks only know him through his dramatic 'unveilings' and the products themselves.

[Earth_First]

10. How many millions of dollars does Apple spend litigating frivilous patent infrigment cases per year?

The legal team alone has to be an anchor on the bottom line; especially when cosumer market forces due to an unstable economy has folks spending less and less...

It isn't rocket appliances.

[uponit7771]

15. bubble