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Why Apple Is Losing Ground to Google and Amazon

This article is more than 10 years old.

Has Apple lost its way? The world's most innovative company three years ago, its reputation for innovation did not just plateau. It stalled, now it is falling and its share price is vulnerable. To add to its indignity, Apple trails Google and Amazon in the theater of public opinion.

Anybody reading Re:Thinking Innovation over the past three months will know I believe in social data as a powerful indicator of a firm's future prospects.

The spectacular revival of RIM's share price is, in large measure, down to the effort RIM has put into its social reputation. The share price has nearly doubled within a month and yet there is no new product in the market. Call it buzz. Call it the power of social.

Conversely Apple has mismanaged perceptions in a way that was inconceivable six months ago. Over the period that RIM's social reputation has grown, Apple's has been in steady decline.

We are not close to understanding the precise impact of social media but I think it is time to acknowledge that social has a profound impact on stock prices. Go here for a look at reputation and the HP share price. The charts below show online emotion around Apple, Google, and Amazon, both in terms of outlook and sentiment. Neither looks good for Apple, though with its cash pile and goodwill it surely has many options for turning this round.

All data courtesy of marketpsychdata.

Apple, Google, Amazon, OUTLOOK

Apple, Google, Amazon, SENTIMENT

Investment disclosure: short or long on nothing. I don't invest in stocks.

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