While Apple is still the most valuable company in the world, its place as a leader in innovation may be shifting. Whether the company is rudderless because it no longer has Steve Jobs or if it’s a matter of other companies catching up, will 2013 see Apple’s fall to Earth?
Growth Slowing Down
Apple still makes billions of dollars annually and has seen profits rise every year since 2003, but its rapid growth may be losing speed.
Change in net income from the previous year
2003 -55%
2004 300%
2005 383%
2006 48%
2007 75%
2008 78%
2009 31%
2010 70%
2011 85%
2012 60%
Free-falling
Apple has seen its stock prices lose about a quarter of their value in the past year, as investors have become increasingly pessimistic about the company’s future.
Stock price, past year (in dollars)
3/19/2012 601.1
3/20/2012 605.96
3/21/2012 602.5
3/22/2012 599.34
3/23/2012 596.05
3/26/2012 606.98
3/27/2012 614.48
3/28/2012 617.62
3/29/2012 609.86
3/30/2012 599.55
4/2/2012 618.63
4/3/2012 629.32
4/4/2012 624.31
4/5/2012 633.68
4/9/2012 636.23
4/10/2012 628.44
4/11/2012 626.2
4/12/2012 622.77
4/13/2012 605.23
4/16/2012 580.13
4/17/2012 609.7
4/18/2012 608.34
4/19/2012 587.44
4/20/2012 572.98
4/23/2012 571.7
4/24/2012 560.28
4/25/2012 610
4/26/2012 607.7
4/27/2012 603
4/30/2012 583.98
5/1/2012 582.13
5/2/2012 585.98
5/3/2012 581.82
5/4/2012 565.25
5/7/2012 569.48
5/8/2012 568.18
5/9/2012 569.18
5/10/2012 570.52
5/11/2012 566.71
5/14/2012 558.22
5/15/2012 553.17
5/16/2012 546.075
5/17/2012 530.12
5/18/2012 530.38
5/21/2012 561.28
5/22/2012 556.97
5/23/2012 570.56
5/24/2012 565.32
5/25/2012 562.29
5/29/2012 572.27
5/30/2012 579.17
5/31/2012 577.73
6/1/2012 560.99
6/4/2012 564.29
6/5/2012 562.83
6/6/2012 571.46
6/7/2012 571.72
6/8/2012 580.32
6/11/2012 571.17
6/12/2012 576.16
6/13/2012 572.16
6/14/2012 571.53
6/15/2012 574.13
6/18/2012 585.78
6/19/2012 587.41
6/20/2012 585.741
6/21/2012 577.67
6/22/2012 582.1
6/25/2012 570.765
6/26/2012 572.025
6/27/2012 574.5
6/28/2012 569.05
6/29/2012 584
7/2/2012 592.52
7/3/2012 599.41
7/5/2012 609.94
7/6/2012 605.88
7/9/2012 613.89
7/10/2012 608.21
7/11/2012 604.43
7/12/2012 598.9
7/13/2012 604.97
7/16/2012 606.91
7/17/2012 606.94
7/18/2012 606.26
7/19/2012 614.32
7/20/2012 604.3
7/23/2012 603.83
7/24/2012 600.92
7/25/2012 574.97
7/26/2012 574.88
7/27/2012 585.16
7/30/2012 595.03
7/31/2012 610.76
8/1/2012 606.81
8/2/2012 607.79
8/3/2012 615.7
8/6/2012 622.55
8/7/2012 620.914
8/8/2012 619.86
8/9/2012 620.73
8/10/2012 621.7
8/13/2012 630
8/14/2012 631.69
8/15/2012 630.83
8/16/2012 636.34
8/17/2012 648.11
8/20/2012 665.15
8/21/2012 656.062
8/22/2012 668.87
8/23/2012 662.63
8/24/2012 663.222
8/27/2012 675.68
8/28/2012 674.8
8/29/2012 673.466
8/30/2012 663.868
8/31/2012 665.24
9/4/2012 674.97
9/5/2012 670.23
9/6/2012 676.27
9/7/2012 680.44
9/10/2012 662.74
9/11/2012 660.59
9/12/2012 669.79
9/13/2012 682.98
9/14/2012 691.28
9/17/2012 699.781
9/18/2012 701.91
9/19/2012 702.1
9/20/2012 698.7
9/21/2012 700.095
9/24/2012 690.79
9/25/2012 673.54
9/26/2012 665.18
9/27/2012 681.32
9/28/2012 667.105
10/1/2012 659.39
10/2/2012 661.31
10/3/2012 671.45
10/4/2012 666.8
10/5/2012 652.59
10/8/2012 638.17
10/9/2012 635.85
10/10/2012 640.91
10/11/2012 628.1
10/12/2012 629.714
10/15/2012 634.76
10/16/2012 649.7925
10/17/2012 644.6136
10/18/2012 632.64
10/19/2012 609.84
10/22/2012 634.03
10/23/2012 613.3554
10/24/2012 616.83
10/25/2012 609.538
10/26/2012 604
10/31/2012 595.32
11/1/2012 596.5399
11/2/2012 576.8
11/5/2012 584.6211
11/6/2012 582.8495
11/7/2012 558.0019
11/8/2012 537.75
11/9/2012 547.06
11/12/2012 542.83
11/13/2012 542.898
11/14/2012 536.88
11/15/2012 525.62
11/16/2012 527.678
11/19/2012 565.73
11/20/2012 560.9134
11/21/2012 561.7
11/23/2012 571.5
11/26/2012 589.53
11/27/2012 584.78
11/28/2012 582.94
11/29/2012 589.36
11/30/2012 585.28
12/3/2012 586.19
12/4/2012 575.8454
12/5/2012 538.7923
12/6/2012 547.2445
12/7/2012 533.25
12/10/2012 529.8209
12/11/2012 541.388
12/12/2012 539
12/13/2012 529.69
12/14/2012 509.794
12/17/2012 518.83
12/18/2012 533.9
12/19/2012 526.31
12/20/2012 521.7302
12/21/2012 519.33
12/24/2012 520.168
12/26/2012 512.9995
12/27/2012 515.06
12/28/2012 509.5892
12/31/2012 532.1729
1/2/2013 549.03
1/3/2013 542.0959
1/4/2013 527
1/7/2013 523.9
1/8/2013 525.31
1/9/2013 517.1
1/10/2013 523.51
1/11/2013 520.3
1/14/2013 501.75
1/15/2013 485.92
1/16/2013 506.09
1/17/2013 502.68
1/18/2013 500
1/22/2013 504.77
1/23/2013 514.005
1/24/2013 450.5
1/25/2013 439.88
1/28/2013 449.83
1/29/2013 458.27
1/30/2013 456.83
1/31/2013 455.49
2/1/2013 453.62
2/4/2013 442.316
2/5/2013 457.844
2/6/2013 457.35
2/7/2013 468.22
2/8/2013 474.98
2/11/2013 479.93
2/12/2013 467.9
2/13/2013 467.01
2/14/2013 466.59
2/15/2013 460.16
2/19/2013 459.99
2/20/2013 448.85
2/21/2013 446.06
2/22/2013 450.81
2/25/2013 442.8
2/26/2013 448.97
2/27/2013 444.57
2/28/2013 441.4
3/1/2013 430.47
3/4/2013 420.05
3/5/2013 431.144
3/6/2013 425.662
3/7/2013 430.582
3/8/2013 431.72
3/11/2013 437.87
3/12/2013 428.43
3/13/2013 428.35
3/14/2013 432.5
3/15/2013 443.66
Bright Spot
Android had consistently beaten Apple in the U.S. smartphone market, but that’s changing.
The Next Big Thing
Despite fanboys’ devotion to everything that comes from Cupertino (even if it’s just an iPod Shuffle in a new color), the company hasn’t released a device or product that represented something brand new since the 2010 release of the first iPad. You could say we’re due for a blockbuster from Apple.
Timeline of major product releases and best guesses at what’s coming next
1984: Mac
1991: PowerBook
1998: iMac
2001: iPod
2003: iTunes Store
2007: iPhone
2008: AppStore, MacBook Air
2010: iPad
2013: Smartwatch, AppleTV, Siri integration into vehicles
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