I put “fooled” in quotes because there are checks you can run before offering up a statement guaranteed to affect stock prices. Engadget didn’t have verification before they published. A few minutes worth of stock market panic cost Apple investors about $4 billion.
Engadget posted a story Wednesday morning at 11:49am ET claiming that Apple was about to announce another delay of Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, as well as a delay for the iPhone, perhaps the most hyped gadget of all time.
But around 20 minutes after the original post, Engadget started to update its story. First, the site said it had heard back from Apple PR that there was no delay. Then the full story started to emerge.
Apparently an internal memo was sent to several Apple employees–and forwarded to Engadget–saying that Apple issued a press release with the news that the iPhone was now scheduled for October, and Leopard was delayed until January. About an hour and a half after that e-mail went out, a second e-mail was sent–this time officially from Apple–saying the first e-mail was a fake, and that the delivery schedule for the iPhone and Leopard had not changed. Engadget then updated its headline as “False alarm: iPhone delayed until October, Leopard delayed again until January.
Commenters on Engadget and Apple investor boards were not amused. Many of those comments are not printable in this space, but it’s safe to say that there’s some very unhappy Apple shareholders out there today. Apple’s stock recovered as the full story emerged, but was still down slightly in afternoon trading.
Apple says the iPhone is still on schedule for June – something I confirmed with Cingular – and Leopard is still on schedule for October.
But, then, I wouldn’t trust Engadget and their peers [or Internet “advisors” in general] for anything more than a solid technical review of a thumb drive.
Rumors and panic selling are the nature of the market. If you don’t understand the risks you shouldn’t be there.
Hey! Fork’em if they can’t take a joke..
I don’tfeel sorry for “Engadget and Apple investor boards members”, they’re already making too much off this junk.
Does anybody feel sorry for somebody who would panic sell on a rumor of a late product?
Time to check and see who shorted AAPL just before the story was published. Follow the money!
One more chink in the armor of Internet-based reporting and news. Eventually this will become a big deal in this country, and I say the sooner the better.
I just love that photo.
The Apple Logo does the “Death Star”.
Use the Force Steve, use the Force.
This was deliberate by Apple. They have to distract from Silverlight. That is that in a sort of coup, the best development platform for Leopards core animation is going to be a Vista only application.
Once again, Bill G crushes any hope that Apple will ever be a relevant company.
That is that in a sort of coup
That didn’t translate too well from Farsi. I haven’t heard of Silverlight. Why will it affect Apple?
Serious question: do you work for Microsoft?
Silverlight is the new name for Windows Presentation Foundation. It’s MS’s answer to Flash/AJAX style Rich Internet apps. It’s actually a good product based on .NET and runs on Apple and Windows machine so far. Biggest drawback is lack of Linux support.
Assuming this wasn’t deliberate by Apple, in general principle, anything that annoys Jobs is a good thing because he annoys me. 😉
It was funny when I read the article yesterday, and its still funny now… plus, apple could stand to lose some of its cash resources
“Rumors and panic selling are the nature of the market.”
Actually, that’s the nature of stupid people that play the market like if they were gambling and don’t check facts before making decisions.
In 2007 and in the age of Google nobody has any excuse not to double check any story before taking action, be it Engadget or Apple investors. Both who’s talking and who’s listening are to blame for this.
But there’s one good thing coming from all of this: people expect more from Apple. Microsoft delayed Vista multiple times and their stock price didn’t tank because of that. If Apple delays Leopard or the iPhone, they will pay a hefty price.
In other words: Microsoft investors are OK with long delays. Apple investors aren’t. I hope Apple is listening.
Poor iFags….such attention wh0res!
For a company (Apple) to manipulate the markets with their marketing seminars (aka Apple events)… where a stock goes up the instant a product comes out of a pocket or when it is just mentioned, I think it appropriate for apple to get burnt in the same way. Minor mention of a delay. Live by the sword, die by the sword…
I think it would be great if Apple actually did come out and annouce a delay after this mess…. would be funny to see the response.
All I can say is, if people are holding Apple stock, they should know that the foundation isn’t so solid after this demonstration. All that needs to happen is uncle Steve stubs his toe or get’s nailed by the government and it’s bye bye apple.
Step lightly Apple… you’d better get Steve’s replacement on the show floor with him real soon… You need a bunch of magicians on stage, not just one.
“cost Apple investors about $4 billion”
how are these numbers calculated? It sounds like sensationalism : if the value of the stock varies for a few hours, you do not loose anything. Who really lost money ?