iOS7 and OSX Mavericks at WWDC: Is Apple Inc Exciting Enough for Investors?
The long wait is over. The release of Apple'S (NASDAQ: AAPL) new OSX Mavericks and iOS7 at the recent WWDC may prove to be an exciting time for Apple and its legions of fans. Apple investors are hoping that this could turn the tide in pulling the company's share price back up.
It has been 6 years since Apple has launched a major overhaul of a mobile operating system. Just like Blackberry's OS who went from promising to boring over time, critics say that the iOS may have lost some of its awesomeness in the recent years. However, the comparison between the two companies ends there because Apple had strong momentum from its hardware.
Whatever shortcomings that the iOS had did not significantly affect the bottom line for Apple. Some had doubted the company's ability to innovate because they think the iOS has fallen behind Apple's rivals particularly the Android OS. Speculations about iOS7 have been circulating for some time. Now that Apple has finally revealed to the world the new and improved iOS, what does it mean for investors?
Apple users impressed, investors not
Based from the initial reaction of Apple users on social networks, they are quite impressed with the number of key features that they will have when iOS7 is released to the public around September. Looking at today's market performance of Apple's stocks, investors are not impressed with the anticipation of new software at WWDC.
Shares of the most valuable company in the world closed two-thirds of a point. This was before the keynote at WWDC. Apple's stocks have dropped almost 20% this year. The company badly needs an innovative product to turn things around.
Apple stocks closed at $441.81 last Friday and started Monday with $448 per share. After Apple's keynote at WWDC, shares dropped below $440 or down $12 per share. While Apple regaled developers about the exciting new features of the iOS7 and OSX Mavericks, investors barely registered optimism.
It is worth noting that Apple Inc.'s average return during WWDC is -3.92%. This year's WWDC took place in June as well as past conferences. The chart below shows Apple's average returns from past WWDCs.
AAPL WWDC Return
Year | % Change |
---|---|
2012 | -1.07% |
2011 | -5.11% |
2010 | -0.96% |
2009 | -5.32% |
2008 | -7.15% |
Average | -3.92% |
Source: CNBC