It has become apparent to my colleagues and I that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is perhaps the most popular company to write about and should you have the slightest question about its products, service, or stock price you are bound to get a few flaming comments from the Apple faithful.
The stock is slightly up from last month when I posted Chasing Value: Apple -- two rights and one wrong closing at $160.18 Friday.
However, this is down about 20% from its high of $202.96, so it is under performing the market by about 5%. No big deal for a stock with a beta of 2.36. Actually, a few of the faithful probably made some good money buying when Apple was down earlier in the year, under $120.
This is one company that people are in love with and that is where some caution is warranted. Just like you might overlook a friend or loved ones idiosyncrasies you might have a tendency to do the same with this stock. Discipline (and perhaps some luck) is required by successful investors and the feedback we get is that some Apple investors have been blinded by the light.
There will come a day when the blockbuster products and features disappoint.
Apple's forward looking P/E of 28 has come down some with the stock price as earnings growth continues, even if Apple says that might slow too. On that I say -- who knows? It has been accused of downplaying its future earnings just to have us marvel at the upside after reporting. We shall have to wait and see.
It has been about six weeks since the 3G iPhone found its way into my 15-year-old's growing hands and he loves it (but owns no stock). All of the features advertised have met his expectations, but, and it is a big but, the battery charge does not last very long unless you consciously conserve by using less of the features.
Perhaps someone can enlighten me and other readers as to why Apple cannot make a removable battery that users can replace themselves. Apple would make more money by selling back-ups that iPhone owners could swap out themselves extending the usefullness of the phone. I carry an extra battery for my phone. If Apple did this I think even a few more people would use it for business.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of AAPL.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-08-2008 @ 12:02PM
An Apple Addict said...
I am not to sure but I am sure it has to do with simplicity. That is something that Apple really does go for.
I am not to sure the stats on the 3G
yet the original Iphone's battery was good for about 500 - 600 charges until the strength started to suffer.
9-08-2008 @ 12:04PM
Sheldon L said...
Warren,
The battery will not last one business day at full purpose usage. If you lower the brightness or turn off features it will. Most business users do not want to fuss with it.
However, regardless of whether it will get you through a 5 or an 8 hour day. Most other phones allow for the change and Apple should too. It's simply more customer friendly.
9-08-2008 @ 12:20PM
Don said...
I have actually converted my whole company (only 5 people) over to MAC. I have been a loyal PC FANatic for many years; building, modifying and tweaking. But we have decided to go mac since you can now run both windows and Leopard on the same computer. Also, the .Mac has allowed collaboration on a scale that i have never experienced with Windows without adding other 3rd party software at additional costs. All are able to text, voice, video and share screens. Issues can be resolved in minutes.
I think PCs are in trouble...
Microsoft may be ok as long as the Fed and other agencies keep using them.
My 2 cents...
9-08-2008 @ 3:56PM
Wonkey the Monkey said...
Apple (and its supporters) have been answering this battery question every since the original iPod came out. The answer then (and I assume now) was that by doing away with a user-accessible battery housing, they were able to do reduce its weight and profile. In the world of portable electronics, thinner and lighter is typically a key to popularity, so they made a choice.
It is up to the individual consumer to decide whether the non-replaceable battery is a deal-breaker. Sales so far suggest that, for Apple's needs, there are more than enough customers who have decided that it is not.
9-08-2008 @ 4:49PM
An Apple Addict said...
I am truly in love with apple I have both there products and stock. They aren't really a hit or miss company, so I am hoping they don't miss in the future.
My 3G battery lasts for awhile tell him to turn down the brightness that could be doing it and it doesn't sacrifice much
9-08-2008 @ 7:49PM
Warren said...
"Perhaps someone can enlighten me and other readers as to why Apple cannot make a removable battery that users can replace themselves."
Do we have any stats on how often people need to change batteries in their phones or how often they actually go bad? That would be a good place to start this debate from.