Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Apple Inc. designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, online services, and personal computers. (Photo : Reuters)
Is Apple's iPhone losing its steam? That question is being raised as shareprices of the tech giant slipped for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday to $113.25.
The decline of Apple's stock (AAPL) by up to 4.4 percent or $5.19 is over concerns by investors if the company could maintain the pace of growth it has enjoyed the past few quarters, boosted substantially by the sale of its iPhones. The worry over China's weakening economy, a key to Apple's growth, is also a factor, reports CBS.
Since February when Apple's share hit a record of $133, the price slump is 14 percent, which places the stock of the company in correction for shares that declined by more than 10 percent from its peak. The slowdown in momentum is reflected in the shareprice going down below its 200-day moving average.
Apple appears to be the victim of its own success. Wired explains that "Apple occupies its own universe, where the normal rules of stock market physics don't seem to apply," and success is relative.
The problem is that Apple slightly missed analysts' expectations for iPhone sales in the last quarter when it sold 47.5 million units versus predictions of 48 to 50 million phones. Compared to a year ago, it was 35 percent higher.
The Chinese market concern is over recent hiccups in the Asian giant's economy since China sold more iPhones in the country than in the U.S., according to an Apple report in April. However, the latest report from Canalys, an industry research firm, said that iPhone shipments dropped to third place after local phonemakers Xiaomi and Huawei.
FBR Capital Markets Managing Director and senior analyst Daniel Ives observes that for some investors, Apple is now a "prove me" stock.
