Apple launched its new iPhone 5 this week, and the results have been somewhat mixed. In the months and weeks preceding the event, many rumors and leaked images were reported by the press, and this left little surprise for the event itself.
The late CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, was infamous for keeping a tight lid on Apple’s products pre-launch, and this gave them the ability to wow consumers at the events themselves. Apple’s stock has consistently risen over the past few years, with its iPhone line being the main catalyst for this increase. This is ironic when you consider statements made by the founder of Dell computers fifteen years ago. He said, when asked what he would do if he ran Apple, ” I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” He believed the company was a total waste, which is truly humorous when you consider that Apple is now 35 times larger than Dell, and it’s extremely doubtful that Dell can even begin to compete with Apple when it comes to quality, or valuation.
However, although Apple is recording extreme leaps in stock price and at the time of this writing is trading at $695.23 per share, the press has still been somewhat puckered over the fact that no new surprises were released at this week’s event in San Francisco, California. Many of the journalists who were live blogging the event to their readers, which involves giving a play by play of sorts, were extremely disappointed when no new features were introduced, that had not already been leaked.
It would seem that the rumors were, for the most part, true, and that Apple failed to impress beyond what was already leaked in previous months. This has caused several members of the press to take to criticizing the tech giant for its lack of innovation.
However, did Apple really fail to impress, or is it possible that consumers and media personnel expect too much out of the Cupertino based company? After all, its iPhone line has long dominated the market over rivals, such as Nokia, Samsung, and Research In Motion. The iPhone is the single most sought after mobile device in history, and analysts project that Apple will sell more than 5 million of the newest model by the end of this month alone.
These sales are expected to drive Apple’s stock as high as $1,000 per share, and they are well on their way towards that goal now. Even as I am writing this, I’m watching Apple’s stock, which has now risen to $696.39 per share. While Apple bytes may taste sour to the press, they are definitely very sweet in the mouth of shareholders today.
