Bad PR Affects Apple's Bottom Line

Bad PR happens all of the time and is something that is usually out of the hands of the company or individual it is effecting. Crisis PR is used when a “crisis” breaks out, which is something unexpected that affects the company or the individual itself. Crisis PR is used more avidly within corporations and celebrity scandals.

            Apple is one the fastest growing companies in the world. According to Steve Cheney of Business Insider, “It’s pretty clear that Apple is in a league of its own in terms of capital efficiency. Competitors are spending staggering sums on both M&A and R&D with limited results. Meanwhile Apple is innovating internally at a fraction of the cost, while cherry-picking strategic investments, which tightly complement its core platforms.”

            With all of the success Apple has had they do encounter the occasional crisis which in turn has been seen to effect Apple’s shares in the stock market. In October of 2008 CNN released a false report that Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs had experienced a heart attack. The rumor was announced in the morning and resolved by the afternoon but within this short time span Apple’s shares had dropped 9.5 percent. The stock was back up to one hundred and four dollars by the end of the day.

            In 2008 Steve Jobs announced that he was taking a leave of absence in order to examine his health. The day the news broke, shares dropped 7 percent. Charlie Wolf, a financial analyst with Needham & Co., said the "Steve Jobs health" factor could cause the stock to fall an additional 10% to 15%.  Wolf was correct, pre-crisis price was $92.70 and a post crisis price of $82.33, which was a drop of 11.19 percent. 

Product Preference

Are you a Mac or a PC?

From my last post, I see that people seem to prefer either a PC or a Mac for various reasons. To expand on this I want to know what your preference is?

Some of the things I have heard and experienced myself is that Macs are less prone to viruses and run faster. Also the battery strength Kicks @$$. My battery lasts at least 6 hours straight!

New products apple has come out with include, Apple TV, Ping, iPhone 4^th generation, the iPad and the new Nano.

The new iPhones were sold out before they were released and customer’s phones were placed on backorder until they could keep up with the demand of the public.

On the apple news section of Apple’s website, it states that, “CNET reports that for the fourth consecutive year, J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Apple highest in customer satisfaction among smartphone manufacturers. The study showed that iPhone scored particularly well in ease of operation, operating system, features, and physical design.”

Apple In The Classroom

The Mac Book pro was introduced in January of 2006, the Mac Book in May of 2006 and the Mac Book air in January of 2008. 

In what is just about 5 years, apple has taken control of college campus' with the various versions on the Mac book. I look around my lecture classes at the University of Texas at Austin and I am shocked with the number of students who are Mac users. I'd say in a class of 300 students here at UT, about 70 percent use some version of the Mac Book. 

The high school I attended only had PCs and that is what I grew up knowing how to use. My senior year I was given the choice of a new laptop by my parents as an early graduation present. Wanting to keep up with others my age I wanted a Mac Book pro. I had NO idea how to work it and I still am learning more and more everyday about my Mac. 

Given that the users of these computers in my classes have grown up the same way I did, which was with a PC. I can only assume they purchased their Mac based on Apples growing popularity instead on their familiarity with the product.

Over the summer I was cocktailing at a country club and the Dell development team was there. I was asked by a designer what kind of computer I owned. I replied that I was a Mac and he quickly asked the question, “Why?” It took me a second to reply because I didn’t really have a solid answer other than, “because it’s pretty.” Feeling extremely materialistic, I then followed up by saying that, “being a communication major at UT, it is hard to not use a Mac because most of the other communication majors are also Mac users and it just makes my life easier.”

My obsession with Apple products started off with the iPod, then the iphone and now the Mac Book. Soon I hope to also be the proud owner of an iPad and Apple TV.