It is tough to see the exact catalyst for the collapse in AAPL's share price in recent days (though it is clear that no China Mobile news is not good news) - but then aside from Carl Icahn's tweets it was hard to see what the exuberance in August was. Now a month later, AAPL has retraced all Icahn's gains and then some and is trading at 5 week lows. Today's weakness - in the face of a surging broad market - is being pinned on talk of Chinese telecoms firms cutting subsidies - not exactly strategically in line with AAPL's growth goals.
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Chinese Telcos cut subsidies... (via Bloomberg [6])
Apple unveiled the 5S and 5C models for the networks of China Unicom and China Telecom Corp. (728) last week as it tries to stem a declining share in the world’s largest mobile-phone market.
That goal may be challenged by reduced support from carriers looking to reign in costs with China Telecom announcing subsidies on the iPhone 5C and 5S that analysts estimate are about 15 percent less than offered for the earlier model.
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A China Telecom monthly plan costing 289 yuan ($47) for the iPhone 5S carries a subsidy of 2,890 yuan, 15 percent less than the 3,400 yuan for the iPhone 5 on the same plan
And Wal-Mart is offering the iPhone 5C even cheaper [7]...
Walmart is rolling back prices on both of Apple's new iPhones.
The world's largest retailer will be selling the iPhone 5C for $79 and the iPhone 5S for $189, the company announced Thursday. The prices represent a $20 discount off of the regular retail price for the 5C, and a $10 discount off of Apple's normal price for the 5S.
Apple unveiled its two new lines of smartphones to much fanfare at a media event on earlier this week. The 5S and 5C can be preordered on Friday, and officially go on sale on Sept. 20.
Walmart often cuts prices on iPhones, but this discount has come surprisingly quickly.
Neither of which suggest demand is overwhelming...
Perhaps just as crucially, AAPL just broke below its 200DMA - the exact catalyst that occurred when Icahn tweeted to lift the stock...
