Recent events
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) experienced a massive dip in its quarter-over-quarter revenues in the first quarter. A couple of factors at play can be identified for the plunge in the revenue stream. Apple has always been known for its innovative and breakthrough technologies, which the company has not been able to deliver for quite awhile. This resulted in a total of 43% deterioration in the stock value from a record high in September. The share value has declined 24% only in this ongoing financial year.
Apple has been facing stiffer competition from Samsung and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) backed Android smart phones, resulting in higher levels of iPhone inventories, indicating that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been selling fewer iPhones, divergent from the projections. Apple is anticipated to slash its iPhone forecast by as much as 20%, indicating a reduced demand. On the brighter side, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to launch the iPad 5 in September coupled with an agreement with China Mobile, making the iPhone available to 700 million of its subscribers. Moreover, the company has climbed to sixth in the Forbes Fortune Global 500.
Google is the top web search engine, available to the internet user all across the world. The financials of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) are very vibrant and radiant, with a continuous increase in revenue. In the most recent quarter, the company experienced a year-on-year as well as a quarter-over-quarter growth in the revenue.
Google is aggressively getting involved in the hardware business providing tough competition to Apple. Now, Google is in the development phase of producing a video game console and a wrist watch based on Android. These would help Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) expand Android’s reach beyond its strong hold in smart phones and tablets. Android, since its inception, has been a hot pick by the masses, featured on three out of every four smart phones.
Moreover, Google is working to build and help run wireless networks to provide internet in emerging markets such as sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, connecting around 1 billion people to the internet. This enhances the company’s prospects by many folds, enabling it to generate more profits.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been spotted in a fix recently. The company’s new Windows 8, whose demand is basically derived from the PC demand, has seen a sharp downfall. The PC market the world over experienced a plummet when PC sales declined by 13% in the first quarter.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has tried to compete with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPad and Android tablet with Windows 8, which is compatible with tablets as well as PCs. The consumers found Windows 8 very confusing and preferred smartphones and tablets over PCs, which resulted in a sharp decline in PC demand.
On the other hand, Windows 8, which was considered to be the company’s most significant update, could only manage to increase the stock value by 3%, not enough to rejuvenate the financial outlook. Furthermore, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s entertainment and devices division has also suffered a decline in the Xbox game console sales of 11%.
