Why You Shouldn’t Care About Apple’s Current Stock Price

Apple’s stock nosedive is no longer breaking news.  As an Integrated Marketing Graduate student, I have been closely following Apple's successes and failures and am always curious what those Cupertino lads are up to.  And when I first heard this, my reaction was one of selfish consumerism: does that mean the "new iPhone" will start being....less awesome?  Are they going to start making inferior products that I can no longer stand in line for?  Selfish. But likely a common reaction among Apple junkies or even baby boomers who just learned how to turn off their iPad with the little rectangular lever at the top.  What does this information mean to the Apple using public?  

Not much.  

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Stock prices are a finicky thing, especially in the technology sector.  Balaji Viswanathan, writer for Forbes and founder of Zingfin, reminds us that in “2005, Microsoft appeared that invincible Goliath, but has now slipped below the media radar.”  Also, it’s important to remember that stock prices often reflect the public’s perception of the value of a company and not necessarily the actual long term value.  When looking at Apple’s actual revenue, The New York Times reports that “analysts expect the company to report another solid quarter next week.  It has been making so much money, it is having a hard time figuring out what to do with all that cash.”  (Think Walter White's wife in the last episode of Breaking Bad.  So...Apple could rent a storage space?) Problems that most companies would like to have.  Most importantly, look at why Apple is where it is today: product innovation. Steve Jobs believed that you could create an appeal for a product that didn’t exist.  

Artist rendering of the rumored iTV.
Guitherme Martin Schasiepen

After ingesting this bit of news, I realized there are three things, you, as consumers and perhaps Apple Fans, can do to make sure nobody doubts the future of Apple, Inc:

1. Do not return your iPad.  No matter how much you want to give it back for fear that those less fortunate never had the chance to experience swipes that cut fruit with an imaginary sword...don't....do it.

2. Do look forward to future Apple launches.  Don't get sad about Apple's latest financial hiccups.  Be happy about their future profit platter that includes every continent and Texas. 

3. Do NOT...Definitely do NOT go back to the PC.  For the love of everything that is intuitive and drag and drop...please, stay with your MacBook, MacBook Air, Mac Mini...whatever it is, just don't turn the dark side.  

As Jobs famously said “the best way to predict the future is to invent it." Apple is said to be launching an iTV and an iWatch sometime in 2013. Two products that will undoubtedly help shape Apple’s own future.  A future nobody should lose any sleep over.   

So if you hear about the struggling behemoth that you should pity, don't.  

Grant Jones is a Integrated Marketing Master's Student at Northwestern University. He has 8 years of experience in marketing and creative video production in New York City. Follow him at @grantwjones.