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Apple: Investors Just Shrug At CEO Cook's Promise Of More 'Game Changers'

This article is more than 10 years old.

Tim Cook

Even as Apple CEO Tim Cook found himself vowing yesterday to bring "several more game changers," his confidence seemed lost on investors.

Cook, participating at the All Things D conference in Calfornia, sought to defend his tenure as Apple's top exec, a necessary tactic after months of Silicon Valley speculation that the almighty trend setter was struggling to introduce new products. Cook expressed an interest in wearable technology--Apple is rumored to be building a watch--praising Nike's FuelBand, a wrist band that monitors activity, but dismissing Google 's glasses. He stopped short of mentioning anything specific. Which is exactly what Apple's investors crave.

Apple shares yesterday sank 0.8% to $441.44, and the stock continued to fall this morning, dropping another 0.6% to $439.92. Concerns that Apple can no longer sustain its break-neck pace of substantial tech innovations weighs heavily on the depressed stock. Apple is down 21.5% in a year, compared to the S&P 500's 26% gain. A hard tumble that wiped away hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization for the world's most valuable company. All this isn't lost on Cook, who acknowledged the drop yesterday: "The stock price has been frustrating—it's been frustrating for investors and all of us."

Cook shares predecessor Steve Jobs' desire to slowly tease details about products, then unveil them in a flashy manner. It worked for Jobs because the iPod, then the iPhone and the iPad, made investors confident that Jobs could shepard the latest and greatest gadgets to market. There's no such trust in Cook, who after nearly two years, has only unveiled product updates. Cook's wait-it-out attitude toward critics and competitors alike--even as Google's Android smartphones accounted for 70% of the market in the first quarter-maddens and frustrates investors.

That's why he found himself fighting back yesterday. And about more than just Apple's slowed progress. Questions also came about the company's controversial offshore tax patterns and environmental history. He used a familiar refrains when discussing his management style ("I always ask myself, What's in Apple's best interest?") and himself ("I never like to talk about myself.") Cook soon may want to start talking about something, anything interesting at all, to reassure his investors.

Reach Abram Brown at abrown@forbes.com

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