Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Apple will “innovate” its way through the difficult economic times, but investors say the designs championed by Jobs may not be enough to generate growth, according to a Bloomberg article.
After a drop in spending by customers such as advertising agencies, Apple will report today that sales and profit fell in the third quarter. The shares, down 25 percent in the period, have fallen 75 percent since peaking in March 2000. Though Dell and Apple are among the few computer companies that are profitable right now, for some that’s not enough.
“I don’t know what he’s delivering, but it’s not shareholder value,” Bruce Raabe, who manages US$500 million for Collins & Co. in San Francisco.
Last month Apple said third-quarter profit would fall to between 8 cents and 10 cents a share from 17 cents a year before. Sales would be as much as $1.45 billion, Apple said, down $25 million from a year earlier.
“Not losing a lot of money is, unfortunately, a shining achievement in today’s PC market,” Jobs said in an e-mail, according to Bloomberg.