It wasn’t all that long ago that we were reporting that Apple stock had hit an all-time high. When the company launched the iPhone 5, shares skyrocketed, sending them over $700.
Now, shares are a bit closer to Earth at $591.42 (-12.58, -2.08%) as of the time of this writing. Trading was halted temporarily thanks to Hurricane Sandy, but the markets are open today.
Last week, Apple released its quarterly earnings, which included disappointing iPad sales. Since then, reports have come out that the company is also losing iPhone loyalty.
On top of that, Scott Forstall, an Apple executive, who led the development of the devices’ operating system is leaving the company.
Another report out this week indicates that Android has caught iOS in terms of apps offered. Heading into the holiday season, Apple is not only competing with Google’s Android (which runs on a new line of devices from the company), but also Amazon’s Kindle Fire devices, which also run their own version of Android. Furthermore, Amazon (which is even replacing Google as the starting point in an increasing number of online shopping searches), is heavily promoting its devices showing a feature-by-feature comparison against the iPad mini, right on the site’s homepage (though the ad seems to have gone away for the time being).
Over the past week, Microsoft has also been showing off its new Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms, which offer consumers even more non-Apple options. When the iPad came out, it really had no competition whatsoever. Things have changed.
It’s going to be interesting to watch how Apple’s stock performs throughout the holiday season.