Apple’s share price was just above $200 in late January 2010 when Steve Jobs took to the stage to unveil the iPad. Any investors who bought the stock then and held it since would have almost doubled their money, a better return than investing in any other large US technology company besides Amazon.
Yet the fall of Apple’s share price to below $400 in recent days underlines its loss of momentum. For the first time since the iPad’s launch, this spring has seen no splashy events.
Since the product blitz of last autumn, which saw almost every device upgraded and its stock price peak above $700, Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has apologised more often than he has introduced new innovations.