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AAPL drops below $400 briefly; Cirrus Logic inventory numbers blamed
Apple Inc. (AAPL) stock fell to its lowest price since December 2011 today following a report from Cirrus Logic, a producer of chips used in the iPhone and iPad, that it was dealing with an inventory surplus. Cirrus Logic said one of its customers is moving to a newer component causing the slowdown, The Associated Press reports. It did not specify which customer made the switch, but Apple is reportedly its biggest customer. Investors took this as a sign that iPhone and iPad sales might have fallen short of expectations. Apple's prices fell about 6 percent, and the market closed with Apple stock at $402.80, down $23.44. At one point, the stock had slipped below $400. Apple stocks have fluctuated in the past few months, hitting an all-time record of above $700 in September due to pent-up demand for the iPhone 5. It is worth noting T-Mobile just began selling the iPhone 5 on April 12, to reportedly strong sales. Apple is scheduled to announce Q2 2013 earnings on Tuesday.
Daily Update for October 11, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
The Force is with SWTOR: EA stock bounces back, budget revealed
It seems like everyone is obsessed with the exact amount of money EA spent creating its most expensive title ever, but the Los Angeles Times may have a final number to end the discussion: Apparently, Star Wars: The Old Republic cost $200 million. Other interesting details from the Times' investigation into what it calls a "galactic gamble" include the fact that it was made by 800 people on four continents with an additional 1,000 voice actors (doing three languages) handling 4,000 characters. The project was such a massive undertaking that BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk likened it to "teaching elephants to do ballet." One of the interesting details of this behind-the-scenes expose is that BioWare said that certain movies and TV miniseries influenced class storylines, such as Big Trouble in Little China for the Smuggler and Band of Brothers for the Trooper. There's also some good news following yesterday's word of EA's stock hit. MarketWatch reports that several brokers have defended the title, resulting in a 2% bounce back in EA's stock. As part of that, a Pacific Crest analyst raised his predictions of quarter sales for SWTOR from 1.5 to 2.2 million, with 800,000 subscribers. Another analyst claims that over two million units of SWTOR have been sold since launch with an expectation that 75% to 90% of players will stay on as paid subscribers following the first free month.
Steve Jobs named Person of the Year by the Financial Times
Calling Apple's turn-around over the last ten years "the most remarkable comeback in modern business history," the UK's Financial Times (free registration required) newspaper on Wednesday named Apple CEO Steve Jobs its "Person of the Year" for 2010. Thirty years after Jobs brought the company public at age 25, the proclamation focuses on his determined attention to detail and reputation as someone who "understands the art of the possible" with the ability to convince others of the plausibility of his ideas. In talking to Financial Times, Roger McNamee, who recently attempted to rebuild Palm in Apple's image, said "Steve's the last of the great builders. What makes him different is that he's creating jobs and economic activity out of thin air while just about every other CEO in America is working out ways to cut costs and lay people off." 2010 has definitely been a good year for Apple, with MarketWatch naming Steve Jobs CEO of the Decade earlier this month and four Apple products making it onto Time Magazine's Top 10 Gadgets list right in time for the holidays. If estimates of Apple selling 100 million iPhones and 48 million iPads next year are correct, 2011 should be a fantastic year as well for Mr. Jobs and company. [via MacRumors]
MarketWatch names Steve Jobs CEO of the decade, rock star of corporate America
Well, that's hard to disagree with. Apple was one of the early inventors of the personal computer industry, but when Jobs left Apple, fortunes began to diminish. In the mid 90s, Apple was becoming all but irrelevant. Then Jobs returned, and the hits started appearing. The iMac, the iPod, and now the iPhone, the iPad and the MacBook Air. Apple has set the pace in an industry that was dominated by Microsoft, and Jobs has carved out a leading space in the home and personal mobile devices. MarketWatch describes Jobs as "a meticulous micromanager who can drive his employees to distraction - and one of the most important figures in American industry in the past half-century." It hasn't been all roses. The Apple Lisa was a bust, but it spawned the Macintosh. The first Apple TV, and perhaps its sequel, aren't certified hits and may never be big sellers. The Motorola ROKR was a dog of a phone, but at least Apple recovered dramatically (to say the least) with the iPhone. One thing that can't be denied is that Apple leads even Microsoft in market cap, with Apple valued at $285 billion while Microsoft stands at around $220 billion. It's a heck of a turnaround.
Sony e-readers get exclusive Dow Jones, New York Post content
Hoping to read the New York Post on an e-reader anytime soon? Then your choices just got quite a bit more limited, as the newspaper has signed a deal that will see Sony offer the only version of the paper for digital reading devices. Joining it are various exclusive offerings from Dow Jones & Company, including The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch, which won't be completely exclusive to Sony readers, but will be available in special editions only available on Sony readers -- that includes The Wall Street Journal PLUS, a digital edition of the morning paper that also features an update of the day's events after the close of the markets. Owners of the Sony Reader Daily Edition will also naturally be able to get the day's papers wirelessly delivered to their readers, with subscriptions running between $9.99 and $19.99 a month.
Activision's Kotick a runner-up for 'CEO of the Year award'
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has had a pretty big year, all things considered. The sales success of his company's titles helped soften (but not completely abate) the blow of the economic crisis, garnering the company a smaller stock drop than their fellow big-name developers. The merger he helped create last December drastically increased Activision's second-quarter revenue to about twice the amount that the company earned on its own in Q2 of last year. Also, he made a bunch of comments that made gamers really angry. Oh, wait -- that's a bad thing.For the first two achievements listed above, Kotick was recognized as a finalist in Marketwatch's 2008 CEO of the Year award. Ultimately, he didn't win -- that honor went to Hasbro's Brian Goldner. However, we hear he's still in the running for Colgate's prestigious "Most Precious Smile of 2008" award. Best of luck, Bob-o![Via GamePolitics]
AAPL hits 52-week low, cries itself to sleep
Apple shares today dropped to an intra-day 52-week low of a penny over $75, and rebounded to close at $80.49 per share. That was down 5.8 points from yesterday's close. This marks the lowest prices for Apple stock since the introduction of the iPhone in early 2007. Many stocks lost ground today in a broad market selloff that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 445 points. Marketwatch.com's Rex Crum says that AAPL has lost "the iPhone premium": That is, whatever gains the company made since the introduction of the popular handset. Apple shares hit a peak of almost $203 per share late last year, but those days are long gone. If there's a silver lining to this gray cloud, it's that now might be a good time to buy. Macworld Expo is coming in January. In years past, the stock price has risen in anticipation of product announcements at the expo, leading to a selling frenzy the day of the keynote. Of course, past performance does not necessarily indicate future results. In this market, who knows?
iPhone video and Greg Joswiak interview from WSJ
Rex Crumb from MarketWatch and the Wall Street Journal snagged an interview with Apple's Vice President of iPod marketing, Greg Joswiak. Greg talked about the iPhone and its awesomeness, of course, and Rex gets some rare hands-on video, too!Although some of the footage is stock from the Keynote, there's also some real-live, hot hand-on-iPhone action. It's hard not to notice that while they are talking, Greg never lets the iPhone out of his own hands, whereas you'd normally expect to see the interviewer at least get to hold the thing. Clearly there are some pretty strict rules in place about who gets to touch one of the few demo units. Even Uncle Walt only got to handle it for a few minutes - but there's no video proof of that, so we'll have to take his word for it.Thanks, Steve!
iPod USB Power Adapter Beats Zune on Amazon
By all accounts, the Zune has been and will be a big failure for Microsoft, and now there is hard retailer data to back that up.Tucked inside a MarketWatch article on APPL's all-time high and the prominence of the iPod is this absolutely delectable statistic: "...Microsoft's new Zune media player, despite heavy marketing, came in only at No. 75 on Amazon's list of 100 best-selling electronics, trailing items such as Apple's $29.99 iPod USB power adapter, at No. 65."Not much more commentary on this from me today, just something quick to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.[via Jupiter Research]
Apple shares reach year's best
MarketWatch is reporting that Apple's shares reached a 52-week high of $87.95 today, apparently fueled by furious rumors of - you guessed it - an iPhone. I'm sure the report that Hon Hai received a manufacturing order from Apple for just such a device isn't doing anything to stop people from losing their investing sense either. If the iPhone is really going to happen, the word on the street hasn't changed from "the first half of next year" yet, unless you consider this latest momument to craptastic journalism from AppleInsider about a second iChat-based iPhone already in the works (seriously guys: try drawing the line somewhere - for once).As usual, you'll hear more as soon as we do.[via MacMinute]
