“We can’t go on like this. So, in the spirit of not going on like this, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has announced a tiny $100-million (U.S.) plan to produce a line of Macs in the United States rather than in China,” Heather Mallick writes for The Toronto Star. “Imagine if the factories opened again. Springsteen would have to write all new songs.”
“Wall Street’s instant response was to drop the stock several percentage points. Apple is the biggest company in U.S. history. But despite its might and inventiveness, the market judged it solely on its merits as a behemoth built mainly on cheap Chinese labour,” Mallick writes. “This is why they call it capitalism. Wall Street’s response was a supremely perfect example of how its unadulterated form can work against the interests of its greatest cheerleaders, in this case the U.S.”
Mallick writes, “The markets are also worried about Cook’s clues that Apple will start making TVs… Oh Tim, ‘we liked you better as a recluse,’ wrote Kevin Roose of New York magazine. Capitalism feels that Apple is not well-placed to make TVs, even though it is patently clear that everything on your laptop is headed to a screen near you even now. The reaction is puzzling. Modern capitalism should be drooling at the thought of all the tech gear that will have to be tossed out for the next big thing. We’re on the eve of destruction. Terrible for the planet and the individual but wonderful for the tech industry.”
“Perhaps the market is trying to dissuade Apple from making its TVs in North America. The market doesn’t want locals with jobs. Apple wants to make friends with workers again. It wants friends with benefits,” Mallick writes. “We will watch Apple battle Wall Street. Who will win? Wall Street. Because of people like us.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Neither of the two reasons the writer cites are reasons why AAPL has endured an end-of-the-year selloff.
A bit of advice for those attempting to use Apple in order to push political agendas of any stripe: Make sure you have the intellect and the writing ability to pull it off.
For a possible actual reason why Apple’s stock price has declined these past few weeks, please see: The mystery of Apple’s crashing stock price.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ian K.” for the heads up.]