Apple shares decline following launch of new products

Shares of Apple declined on Wednesday (U.S. time), the day when the world’s No. 1 company in market capitalization unveiled new products the ‘iPhone 6,’ ‘iPhone6 Plus’ and ‘Apple Watch.’

Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed, “The iPhone6 is the biggest advancement in the history of iPhone,” but the New York stock market reacted lukewarmly, as if to suggest that ‘A much-hyped party has nothing much interesting to offer.’

Apple stock started strong and soared to 103.08 U.S. dollars per share, up 3.5 percent from the previous day, at 1 p.m. on the day, around the time when the new products were launched. However, the share reversed its course around 2 p.m. and closed the day at 97.99 dollars, down 0.38 percent.

Shares in New York also declined en masse on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97.55 (0.57 percent) points from the previous day to close at 17,013.87, while S&P 500 shed 13.10 points (0.65 percent) to close at 1,988.44. The NASDAQ index declined 40.00 points (0.87 percent) to finish at 4,552.29.

The U.S. media, including the Wall Street Journal, online media outlets and securities experts focused more on the Apple Watch than the iPhone 6. However, general response to the products was that “Although there is a chance they will become essential IT items, they fail to meet market expectations, and the price (a minimum of 349 dollars) is rather high.”

The Wall Street Journal said that it is difficult to estimate Apple Watch’s potential, but the fact this device can only hit the market next year and (expensive) price have burdened the price of Apple shares. However, other analysts say that linking the drop in Apple shares on the day with pessimistic outlook is not logical. They say expectations on the new products have already been reflected in the tech giant’s share. The average gain in Apple shares on the days when the company unveiled new products previously only amounted to 0.3 percent.