How Apple Markets its Shares
A lot of geeks have been let down over how the iPhone hasn't lived up to all the iPerbole surrounding it. For starters, Loren Feldman won't be getting one because it doesn't do video. Furthermore, Nokia employees Paul Whitaker and Karl Long recently caught Apple with its pant down when they documented an iPhone line-up with a Nokia N95.
None of this is hurting Apple, however, and there's good cause. Basically, Apple may have found a way to drive up the price of its shares by letting things out of the bag while they're still in the beta phase of their development. As David Vogelpohl notes:
The furor over the iPhone has been driving shares of Apple (APPL) through the roof since the launch of the popular new phone / browser / email client / iPod. Shares of AAPL were up to as high as $132.58 on July 5th up from a high in June of only $125.09. That’s nearly a 6% rise in under a month.
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Despite a few hiccups along the way, the iPhone has been a boon for Apple and seems to fit well with Apple’s strategy of producing well made consumer electronics with sleek designs and high usability. Apple’s success with the iPhone and subsequently its climbing stock price has even helped contribute to an overall rise at Nasdaq.
[...] This may be okay with Apple as one of the things that has made Apple so successful is their ability to rule their niche in the consumer electronics market.
Now, iPhone's obvious shortcomings may be due to that Apple let the it out of the bag a bit too soon. But what's driving up Apple stock is that it did get out of the bag so prematurely. Basically, Apple has sent the market a message: when it comes to consumer electronics, Apple is the innovator. Because they're the first ones out of the gate, they have a much better chance of being the first ones across the finish line, and it is probabilities like that that pique the interests of investors.
Jumping the gun, then, can often be a way of marketing your shares. And marketing is all about stimulating demand. When demand for your stock goes up, moreover, so does its worth.
