I notice that there are lots of posts about Apple's share price, which tumbled almost 20% today, reaching $100 before rallying. This is pretty much what's happened to Dell shares as well, but I haven't spotted anyone writing about that. (Google is also down from an all-time high flying $747 last year to $385. Has anyone noticed that the US economy isn't what it used to be?)
Apple's stock plunge came "after Morgan Stanley and RBC both downgraded the stock this morning," says Silicon Alley Insider.
RBC said 40% of people plan on spending less money on electronics in the next 90 days: "the weakest outlook ever seen." Well, that's a surprise. However, SAI says:
Morgan Stanley's Kathryn Huberty points out that the remaining source of growth in the PC market is in the sub-$1,000 market, where Apple currently sells no laptops.
Indeed, there may well be growth in the sub-$600 sector, which is where companies such as Asus and Acer are selling netbooks -- with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba and others following at a rapid rate.
Apple has never made a subnotebook Mac or Mac-based netbook, so is it time for something new? Would a $599 netbook Mac hurt sales of $1,100+ models or create a mini-boom as Mac fans buy a second or third machine?
