“So there’s a report this week, unconfirmed as usual, that Apple has severely cut back on component orders. As you might imagine, the already sinking stock price has tanked big time,” Gene Steinberg writes for The Tech Night Owl. “If this claim were true, it would mean that sales of Apple gear have really fallen to lower than expected levels. If it were true.”
MacDailyNews Take: Actually, no, if true, it could mean that, or it could mean any number of things: New models, a component supplier switch, etc.
“Unfortunately, the latest report supposedly originated from ‘related upstream suppliers’ courtesy of Digitimes, an IT publication from Asia that has a poor track record for accuracy,” Steinberg writes. “But it is being believed largely because it plays to the belief that Apple is somehow suffering, even though there’s no solid evidence that any of it is so.”
“Certainly Apple will say nothing during this period, but it leaves plenty of room for people to just make up stories. Some of it can benefit traders who might want to push Apple’s stock price down so they can buy up shares cheap and earn big profits when the price goes up. But that assumes Apple didn’t already reach a plateau to which they’ll never return. That requires making assumptions about recent sales, current sales and future sales that have no factual basis, so I won’t go there,” Steinberg writes. “So the critics continue to hack away at Apple, with each piece of potential bad news simply buttressing previous pieces of bad news.”
Read more in the full article here.
Ernie Varitimos writes for AppleInvestor, “I call Bullshit! So, this is where that 10 times spend on advertising is going by Samsung, heh? This is just another case of ‘crack-head journalism’ that is completely void of fact and stuffed to the brim with speculation, designed only to knock Apple down and promote Samsung.”
“The post only refers to Taiwan-based supply-chain makers. I really don’t understand what that category is comprised of,” Varitimos writes. “We need names DigiTimes, otherwise it’s just rumor dude!”
MacDailyNews Note: Here’s an actual “report” from DigiTimes today that reads like a Samsung ad:
iPad mini shipments expected to fall to 10-12 million units in 2Q13, say Taiwan makers
Max Wang, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Friday 19 April 2013]
Shipments of iPad mini, mainly due to competition from several 7- to 8-inch tablets, are expected to drop from 13-15 million units in the first quarter of 2013 to 10-12 million units in the second, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
Samsung Electronics’ recently released 8-inch Galaxy Note 8.0, priced at US$399 for a 16GB version is expected to become a strong competitor to the iPad mini, the sources noted.
To promote its mobile products, Samsung has recently cut the price of its Galaxy S III by US$100 and is offering its 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 priced at US$199.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 is also estimated to show up in Taiwan in the near future with a 16GB/Wi-Fi version priced at NT$12,500 (US$419) and 16GB/3G at NT$15,900.
Varitimos writes, “Someone is paying someone a lot of money for this kind of exposure.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Gee, which convicted patent infringer, headed by a corrupt crook, is well-known worldwide for being ethically challenged enough to try something as stupidly transparent as this in such a esteemed publication (smirk) as DigiTimes?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Convicted patent infringer Samsung paying students for ‘fake Web reviews’ — did it attack Apple, too? – April 17, 2013
Fair trade officials investigate Samsung for paying people to post ‘fake web reviews’ that defame competitor – April 16, 2013
Samsung office searched by police over alleged technology theft – April 12, 2013
Samsung’s new ‘Wallet’ bears striking resemblance to Apple’s Passbook – February 27, 2013
Korea JoongAng Daily: Samsung must stop slavishly copying Apple – September 3, 2012
South Korea reassesses its great imitator, Samsung – September 2, 2012
Convicted patent infringer Samsung acuses Apple of trying to limit consumer choice – September 1, 2012
Is Samsung copying Apple’s patented earphones? It sure looks like it – September 8, 2012
Samsung mimics Apple product videos in Galaxy S III promo (with video) – August 24, 2012
Now slavish copycat Samsung attempts to knockoff Apple’s retail stores (with video) – August 23, 2012
Samsung: Shameless slavish copiers – August 13, 2012
Apple attorney: Instead of innovating, Samsung chose to copy iPhone and iPad – July 31, 2012
Apple: Google warned Samsung against slavishly copying our products – July 25, 2012
Now Samsung slavishly copies Apple’s Mac mini – June 1, 2012
Samsung Mobile chief ‘designer’ denies that Samsung’s instinct is to slavishly copy Apple – March 23, 2012
Slavish copier Samsung shamelessly steals Apple’s iPhone 3G design – again – January 3, 2012
Slavish copier Samsung uses girl actress from iPhone 4S ad for Galaxy Tab 8.9 spot (with video) – January 2, 2012
Now Samsung’s slavishly copying Apple’s iPad television ads (with videos) – December 30, 2011
Judge: Can you tell me which is iPad and which is yours? Samsung lawyer: ‘Not at this distance your honor’ – October 14, 2011
Why are Apple’s icons on the wall of Samsung’s store? – September 24, 2011
Apple to Samsung: ‘Blatant copying is wrong’ – April 18, 2011
Apple sues Samsung for attempting to copy look and feel of iPhone, iPad – April 18, 2011
Samsung’s ‘Instinct’ is obviously to make Apple iPhone knockoffs – April 1, 2008
Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men. You’re welcome.
Ernie vartimos aka Zach Bass…?
BS!
Everyone knows that Apple will not defend itself——–every …….. So why not, for all I know Samsung uses brokerages to short Apple, sounds reasonable to me plus gain market share !
Read below…
Might not be a bad idea for Apple to hire some of the world’s best sleuths to try and find proof of any Samsung/AAPL connection…
Be nice if Apple spent a Bit more of its massive money pile on advertising as every page seems to be pushing Samsung and little else these days.
yeah…cuz Apple’s infallible, right…like the white haired bearded guy in sandles in the sky right!!!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!?!?!?
Is Samesung buying Apple shares…?
Hmm. Concept!
SameScum knows they’re headed into the ditch. They skimmed all the suckers. They ran out of Apple ideas to rip. So jump on the Apple gravy train directly! Kill AAPL, buy Buy BUY! Then jack up the AAPL price again. Brilliant survival strategy.
Samsung: FSCK -U.
You couldn’t mae this stuff up:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/20/apple-samsung-dirty-tricks/?source=yahoo_quote
Nothing . . . ABSOLUTELY NOTHING . . . has changed in Cupertino since September of 2012 to stop the most lamentable meltdown of AAPL. I own more of this equity than my broker can stand–and I have kept ALL of it (in and out) in the past half-year–to his utter dismay.
To everyone NOT tied to this pathetic equity, my advice: Stay away and do not come near AAPL until it reaches 300. Which it will. And at that point, look into the boardroom to see if Mr. Cook (et al.) are still there. If they are, run away and do not look back!
All these sweet, gentle folks care about is making “great” products. That’s a terrific idea, of course, and one I support with my pocket book to the tune of several million dollars. But (apparently and recently) great products DO NOT a great equity make. Sad, but very true.
Stay away, children. Flee as if your financial future depended on it!
Sooner or later, making insanely great products will be enough. Eventually fundamentals will become more important the FUD.
Total *DING* Factor. Sit and watch the show. It’s hilarious if you already know the plot line. And I do.
Then sell it.
PS: I think you are going to see you shares rise back up again after Tuesday and throughout 2013. This beatdown was orchestrated to insure against a ton of institutional short sales on AAPL shares. Mission accomplished. I predict the news on Apple is going to mysteriously turn rosey after Tuesday as these short sellers jump back into AAPL long.
This PS is to my post below. Don’t know how it got here. It is not for twodales.
The meltdown of AAPL is indeed lamentable. I feel for anyone that is watching the value of their portfolio eroding. But Apple is NOT melting down. And I care more about that reality rather than the “value” the market places on a share of AAPL.
Truax, if you truly believe that AAPL will reach 300, then you are a complete and utter fool to hang onto your shares through another 25% decline. Based on your own post, you should sell now and buy back later, if Cook has been replaced.
I really don’t believe that AAPL will go lower unless there is a global disaster/meltdown of some type. AAPL is supported by Apple’s enormous reserves of cash and securities. Few, if any, other companies can boast a balance sheet even remotely comparable to that of Apple. The sky is not falling.
When you are a public company you are at the mercy of unsubstantiated reports, idiot commentators and the like. All I can say is that from my own experience, when I went to the nearest Apple store for a iPhone replacement, that it was the busiest store in the mall. This was 2 weeks ago. After all the stories depicting gloom and doom, the store was amazingly overcrowded with buyers and not just lookers. It would be nice is Apple bought back all the shares and took it private. That way they wouldn’t have the burden of a share price get in the way of what they are amazing at. Making products that just work and lives better.
What other company could withstand this kind of bogus orchestrated attack and watch their so much of their market cap washed out and not have to sweat it because of No Debt and Mountains of Cash?
Eat your hearts out FUDsters, you ain’t raiding this company!
😁😁😁😁😁😁
Clueless idiots believe this BS. “iPad mini shipments expected to fall” from what? This will be the first quarter that the iPad mini shipped through. Lets not think about the 80 plus percent of tablet traffic that is from iOS tablets. I and many others will buy the retina display version when it ships this quarter. We like that quality on the full size iPads we already own.
Less that what? Idiots!
Here is what is happening folks. Samsung is paying millions of dollars for this kind of trash talk. They are then going to invest 10’s of millions of dollars and buy Apple Stock. They will then reap the rewards of that investment when Apples stock goes back up. Then they will use that money to pay off the Billion dollars that they owe Apple for the blatant copyright infringement. It’s a win win for Samsung and they will walk away happy because Wall Street will just let it happen. This is how you create a ponzi scheme and get away with it. Legal from every aspect.
I’ve watched my AAPL stock go from 18 to 700 and back down to 390. Sure, in hindsight I wish I had sold some of it last year. But I’m just gonna stick around for the crazy ride because I believe that it will turn around as they bring out new products and keep minting more profits.
It sounds like you got in early. Way to go. $18 was a long time ago. Safe to assume that you must have bought many shares over the years. You must have accumulated thousands by now. Although for every thousand shares you’re down $310,000 since last year. Eventually that becomes real money. As they say hindsight is 20/20. But you’re a better man than me Charlie Brown. I’m afraid I would be quite upset.
You are only out money when you sell. Otherwise it’s all just numbers on paper.
Yep!
Apple must defend the company and products, and it must be done with vigor and class. When you speak, let the competition and the “so called” Wall Street analysts and the self described experts (Digitimes) know that this is the company Steve built. In the last quarterly report I believe Apple reported one of, if not the best, quarter in history. So why is the company stock price tumbling. Again, Apple must defend the company. They should find a good PR man… Shut down the lies and sink those who present themselves as impartial writers and yet continue to write things like this, “Shipments of iPad mini, mainly due to competition from several 7- to 8-inch tablets, are expected to drop from 13-15 million units in the first quarter of 2013 to 10-12 million units in the second, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.” Who are these unnamed makers and sources referenced in the Digitimes article. Digitimes has the right to their opinion, but not to their own facts. Come on Apple, get on the ball… Start making noise.
+100
GM:
” I haven’t owned shares of AAPL in more than 2 years. I sold my AAPL calls. Sold them in September 2012 with AAPL at $700. Sat on the sidelines for three weeks, then started buying AAPL puts. Have ridden AAPL all the way down since October 2012. Have made even more money as AAPL went down than I did as it went up. And I made a bunch as it went up! ”
You have no interest but your own selfish one FUDscum.
Self interest
Self promotion
Arrogance
Self incriminating loud mouth
Is this the second or third time I’ve read the exact same post on different articles?!?
Now that’s sick.
Goodness Jimmy you seem upset today. I’m not quite certain what you’re talking about here Jimmy? I didn’t invest anything for you if that’s what you mean? I can be a nice guy and do that if you like? Gosh golly Jimmy, doesn’t everybody invest for for them self? Or am I investing for the team?
Distort and short, pump and dump. It works, try it, screw the investors and fanbois. It’s the easiest trick in the book.
I bait your sentiment here and all you idiot MDN fanbois buy it hook line and sinker, with every star of your ratings and arguments…
‘Love it!
Gosh you all are, stupid and gullible
BWAHAHAHA! Excellent satire.
Their defense will be through new product announcements this year. Just have a little more patience. And then their is next year.
Next year will be the year of 3D. More importantly, glasses-less 3D. iPads, Macs, iPhones, iPods, and the Apple iTV. They will change GUIs used for all products….Apple will essentially reinvent everything. Just look at the 3D patents that Apple has been granted.
And that will ensure Apple maintains it’s commanding lead. It will also be incredibly difficult to replicate in the short term.
The thing WS would hate the most, which apple should do, is do a stock split. The bigger the split the better. 10 to 1 would’ve a good number.
Bought more AAPL at 400 this week. Dividend is now 2.5%. Hard to do better than that. I like Apple’s silence. No news is good news. While the fund managers keep creeping out the door, buy now. The buying tsunami will hit this summer.
I think there’s a clear danger the talk everywhere and the slamming of AAPL can affect the concept of Apple products. People in general are not so savvy as in mac forums and cannot make the distinction. The only talk of the town is about the AAPL free fall. This why Apple cannot sit and watch what is going on but has to be proactive!
Apple has to ignore idiocy and stick to the superior business model that invented the company, made it the best on the planet, and drove it to remarkable respect from its customers and remarkable profit in the market place.
Respond to manipulators and put your company at risk?
I DON’T THINK SO! 😕
This is just another case of ‘crack-head journalism’
Yeah! I can live with that term. I call them coke heads. But ‘crack-heads’ is even more harsh! Fine with me!
What I’m waiting for is these crack-heads to CRASH and hit the skids. Send them all off for rehab and bring in the Bright-Young-Things who have a brain in their heads and truckloads of integrity. Overthrow the parasitic fools.
Vive La Révolution!
Now that kinds name calling is just disrepectful…calling someone a “journalist”.