This article was published on June 11, 2012

$AAPL kisses $FB, smacks $GOOG, and the market yawns


$AAPL kisses $FB, smacks $GOOG, and the market yawns

Several days ago, I penned a short article noting the massive disconnect between the financial performance of LinkedIn’s stock, and the media reaction to its massive, and embarrassing password leak. The technology community was embroiled. The market didn’t give a damn.

Something similar is going on today, that I think bears noting. Following Apple’s simply enormous WWDC keynote, there’s been much to digest. Here’s how I would break down several of the competitive dynamics that were up for enjoyment today:

  • Apple gave Facebook a bear hug. By launching deep integration with the service, Apple ended its monogamy with Twitter. Also, now that Facebook is so well-built into the Mac and iOS product lines, it has an improved shot at keeping its position atop the social networking scrap heap. So, today’s stuff: Good For Facebook.
  • Apple gave Google a right boot in the arse by kicking its mapping technology off its phones. Now Google only controls mapping for one major phone line – its own. iOS has a massive install base, and so to lose that business is, well, big. It hurts Google’s market share in the field, lowers its ability to learn, snaps more ties with Apple, and of course, cuts revenue. So, today’s stuff: Bad For Google.
  • Apple itself had a great day. Its new products were well received, and its coming software updates look solid. Anyone worried about an immediate post-Jobs slide is now looking like an utter schmuck. So, today’s stuff: Good For Apple.
  • And finally, Apple’s news today further unified its touch and desktop operating systems, in a way that people like. This dings Microsoft’s Windows 8 product as the better Apple gets, the better Microsoft has to be to gain market share. So, today’s stuff: Bad For Microsoft.

Now, let’s take a look at each company’s market performance. Note, of course, the larger stock market was down on the whole today, between 1 and 2%:

  • Apple: -1.58%
  • Facebook: -0.35%
  • Google: -2.06%
  • Microsoft: -2.55%

You’ll note that, well, those numbers look exceptionally normal, especially given that the NASDAQ itself was down 1.7%. In short, it appears that the market has incorporated none of the new information from the day into its pricing of these companies. And these are the big ones, with many, many eyes on them.

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I don’t know what this means, but it’s something to keep in mind.

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