Hey, kids, it’s another week so that means it must be time for another mind-bendingly stupid contrarian article about Apple!
This week’s contestant is some mook in a suit named Bret Jensen over at Seeking Alpha.
OK, look, before we rip into Bret like a pack of pack of angry wolverines on a wide-eyed bunny, the Macalope should note that sites like Seeking Alpha routinely spit out this contrarian claptrap on purpose. Supposedly it‘s about “balance” or giving time to “other viewpoints” or providing work for the “criminally insane.” Actually, Jensen probably doesn’t even believe what he wrote himself. Someone probably asked for a contrarian piece on Apple and he said “Eh, sure, I got five minutes.”
Recent events that concern Jensen?
The new CEO, Tim Cook, dominated a news cycle with his massive $378mm payday. Given the 1% vs. 99% theme of this election season, that can’t be a good thing for Apple’s image.
Do you think it‘s “news cycle” or “dominated” that Jensen doesn’t understand?
Apple just had to suspend 4S iPhone sales in all its mainland China stores.
Indeed. Demand so fervent that people line up for days and then egg the store when they can’t get the product is always a problem.
The company is partnering with Target (TGT) to offer product in 25 Target stores. I understand the appeal to Target, but Apple choosing a downscale retailer for this sort of arrangement escapes me. Nordstrom or Saks maybe, but Target?
Nordstrom or Saks? They’re clothing retailers.
Five minutes. The Macalope is telling you, he banged this out in five minutes.
Apple has way too much going for it to short the stock (see below), but it is hard to add to positions given recent missteps.
None of the things you listed are “missteps.” The first helps lock up one of the best CEOs in the technology world, the second shows how intense demand is for the company’s products in the largest market in the world, and the third is the company extending its reach domestically.
In a rational world, these would all be called “strengths”. But whoever said Seeking Alpha represented a rational world?
(Disclosure: The Macalope holds an insignificant number of Apple shares.)
[Editor’s Note: In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.]