By Michelle Lee
Since early May, Apple has experienced an unexpected decline in its stocks, reaching its lowest point in two years. The company had an eight-day losing streak starting on May 4, as their stocks have plummeted 12 percent since the beginning of 2016. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has been suffering from a stagnation in innovative ideas, and without an inventive product to turn the tables completely, recovery deems to be difficult.
“In the case of Apple, a number of factors may have been involved in the recent stock declines,” said Steven Smith, AP Economics teacher. “First, there has been a lack of success with their new products such as the Apple Watch. Second, there are doubts about Apple’s innovative potential in the future. Many question whether CEO Tim Cook will produce the same innovative outcomes that Apple developed under Steve Jobs.”
Hartmut Esslinger, former lead designer of the MacBook, stated that innovation has been lacking in the company. While Apple has continuously developed and improved iPhone software, customers have not seen many changes in the designs. The iPhone sector of the company, which makes up over 75 percent of Apple’s total stock value, has yet to deliver a new product on the market. The most recently released iPhone SE was made more affordable and showed little change with slightly downgraded functions and physical outlooks, According to CNN Money, this product showed no increase in Apple’s revenues and sold 10 million fewer units than the iPhone 6S, emphasizing the necessity for Apple to reinvent themselves completely.
“The innovation seen recently in the company has been lighter in impact than the iPod that truly revolutionized the music industry. Tim Cook is still no Steve Jobs, who’s main idea was to get you to buy something you did not know you wanted—but it is no doubt that Apple will survive just fine,” said Ronald Slachta, shareholder of Apple Stocks.
Amidst this situation, Apple has announced a newly furnished MacBook that may change its circumstances. The new MacBook, expected to be released in late June, is pulling more attention as it has supposedly reinvented design and software. With an additional color and modernized design, the MacBook has been made slimmer and lighter. Moreover, a new touch-sensitive keyboard has been implemented to give more accessibility to the user. The USB port has also been compacted into one single port, sparking discussion on the convenience of the new device.
“I think the minimalistic style of the new MacBook—being extra thin—and the new keyboard, are exciting new features that a Mac user like me can look forward to as it is claimed to be lighter and more comfortable to use,” said Sky Park (10), MacBook user.
In spite of all the technological achievements Apple claims, its revival remains a concern. According to CNBC, Jia Yueting, Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and founder of LeEco, said that Apple would need to take more radical measures to truly restore their eminence. The MacBook contributes to 29 percent of Apple’s revenue, and according to Piper Jaffray, Wall Street analyst, it is not enough to pull the entire company back from their depreciated stocks, explaining Apple’s focus on the iPhone.
A competitive rival of Tim Cook in the IT industry, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, once said that companies should not be afraid of failure since if there is no failure there is definitely not enough innovation. Echoing the sentiments of many economists, there is no doubt that Apple will recover, but even experts are not sure how long it may take.