Apple’s stock drops. Why?

Apple has not had a good morning.

Apple has not had a good morning. Its stock has dropped 40 per cent and is now trading at a valuation which is lower than Dell.

Why is this? Well, several reasons are knocking around. Firstly, there’s that Tim Cook just isn’t Steve Jobs – he is not a “product visionary”. Perhaps this is why Apple’s internal management is also in flux. And another problem is the products themselves. The iPhone is on its way down, and the word is there’s not much that’s new in the pipeline.

Here’s the BBC:

While the sales of its popular iPhone and iPad have grown – they have fallen short of market expectations – and its market share has been declining.

At the same time, its biggest rival Samsung has been steadily increasing its market share, both in the smartphone and tablet PC sectors.

According to research by Gartner, in the final quarter of 2012 Samsung sold 64.5 million smartphones to Apple’s 43.5 million.

However, Business Insider makes a convincing case for the defence:

The stock is cheap.

We are nearing the end of the new-product blackout that began last fall. (In relatively short order, excitement should begin to build about the iPhone 5S, the new iPad Mini, and other product refreshes, even if Apple doesn’t have anything truly new up its sleeves.)

While Apple’s management team without Steve Jobs in charge is unproven, it’s not stupid. Almost all of the folks who produced and sold Apple’s great products over the past five years are still on the team.

Apple appears to be working on a cheaper iPhone, which suggests it is finally willing to trade profit margin for growth. This is critical for the company’s long-term survival, and it’s something Apple should have done a couple of years ago, when it was still the industry leader. But better late than never.

A disastrous first quarter and second-quarter outlook should radically reduce Wall Street’s expectations for Apple — thus setting the bar lower. This will make it easier for Apple to positively surprise investors in the future.

It is still possible that Apple is working on a revolutionary new product like a TV or smartwatch that will suddenly get people jazzed about the company again. Yes, as time goes by, this possibility seems more remote. But it’s not zero. Most importantly, Apple is still well-positioned strategically, and it still makes excellent products. We are not talking about a company like Dell or HP, which are in businesses that are dying (PCs). And we’re not talking about a company whose products have gone to crap. We’re just talking about a company that has lost its product edge and clung too long to its super-premium pricing strategy instead of using its phenomenal profit margin and financial resources to remain both the quality leader AND the price leader. The global smartphone and tablet industries are going to continue grow rapidly over the next several years. Assuming Apple makes smart decisions on the pricing side, Apple should grow with them.