Ups and Downs of the iPhone On the Stock Market
Apple responds to the battery war
To help prevent abrupt shutdowns. This was the official explanation offered by Apple when it became apparent towards the end of last year that an update was apparently not always an improvement, and that the company was deliberately slowing down older iPhones with every new update in order to aid their already struggling batteries and prevent unexpected shutdowns.
The company reacted strongly to allegations, insinuating that older models were being slowed down deliberately in order to drive the sales of newer models. What really seemed to trouble users the most was that the admission only came after Reddit started to notice and blog about the fact that when they replaced their batteries with newer batteries, phones showed better overall performance.
This prompted an investigation by technology benchmarking firm, Primate Labs. Software analysis clearly showed artificial reticence pointing to outside and intentional tampering by Apple. Apple finally conceded, and admitted to having made changes to the way the older models operated after the release of the findings by Primate Labs. They also admitted to having done so without the necessary consent from the phone owners and users.
The company said that it was necessary to slow the workings of older phones in order to compensate for ageing batteries, which could no longer cope with the demands of the new software updates.
The problem with the explanation is the fact that other smartphone manufacturers have not identified the need to do the same, with Apple having identified the need to make amendments to phones that carried batteries that were not even a year old.
Customer Confidence Stock Price Building Bricks
Customer confidence is what ultimately drives the price of a share. It’s this very basic principle that firmly holds together bricks in the wall of the economy. It then comes as no surprise that immense fluctuations are becoming an everyday thing as far as the stock market and the value of Apple shares are concerned.
Apple’s sack of problems recently grew to astronomical proportions as Russia joined the Apple-slamming bandwagon. Two Russian law firms are going at it again in local courts, trying to make a buck or ten out of the manufacturer for the slowing down of phones without the consent of users. Local courts may not strike too much fear into the hearts of manufacturers or the stock market at that, but the problem lies with the negative publicity as well as the fact that court trends tend to spread like wildfire.
The sudden litigation against the manufacturer in Russia follows similar proceedings instituted by law firms in Israel and France, late in 2017. Australia, South Korea and Canada are expected to join the party next.
Apple is no stranger to court cases, but for many users what happens in court is irrelevant. Apple has been late to the party in many ways, with features like wireless charging, already prevalent in other model phones, only now coming to the fore. The lack of progression, and the fact that they have now admitted to slowing down older models doesn’t bode well for consumer confidence, or for their stocks and shares.
