Apple
Apple fell as much as 1.9 percent yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading after Jobs introduced an iPod Nano with a video camera and cut prices on other models. Some investors had expected more, such as an iPod Touch with a camera, said Brian Marshall, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech Inc.
“That was one potential negative to offset the potential positive surprise that we saw with Steves appearance,” said Marshall, who is based in San Francisco. Investors are less focused on Jobs than they used to be, he said. “The investment community is very comfortable with Apples existing management team in addition to Steve.”
Jobs, 54, spoke publicly about his liver transplant for the first time. He said he now has the liver of a person in their mid-20s who died in a car crash and had donated their organs.
“I wouldnt be here without such generosity,” Jobs said. “Im vertical. I am back at Apple and loving every minute of it.”
Jobs, who went on a 5 1/2-month medical leave in January, last appeared at a company event in October, when he introduced Macintosh notebooks.
Dressed in his trademark blue jeans and black turtleneck, Jobs appeared to a standing ovation and spoke for about a half- hour. He mingled with the crowd after his presentation.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, fell $1.79 to $171.14 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock has more than doubled this year.
Very Ably
Jobs relied on a team of executives, including product marketing chief Phil Schiller, to emcee company events while he was on leave. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook handled Apples day-to-day management. The executives ran the company “very ably” in his absence, Jobs said. He returned to Apple in June, staying out of the spotlight until yesterday.
“The big news is Steve Jobs looks relatively well,” said Ryan Jacob, a fund manager at Jacob Asset Management in Los Angeles. He manages about $40 million, and Apple is one of the funds largest holdings. “Obviously hes been back at work, but I think its encouraging that hes well enough to make a full presentation.”
IPhone Sales
Cook was in the audience at the event, along with Apple retail chief Ron Johnson and Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt.
In addition to a video camera, the new iPod Nano has an FM radio and pedometer. The 8-gigabyte device costs $149, while a 16-gigabyte model goes for $179. It will compete against products such as Cisco Systems Inc.s Flip camera.
Cisco, the largest maker of networking equipment, said it welcomes new competition and that increased use of video will help sales of its routers and switches.
“We are flattered that Apple and others perceive video is an important market,” said Jonathan Kaplan, general manager of the consumer product unit at San Jose, California-based Cisco.
Apple cut the price of the 8-gigabyte version of the iPod Touch to $199, an effort to stoke demand in the run-up to the holiday shopping season. A 32-gigabyte model will cost $299, while a 64-gigabyte model will be $399.
Apple also unveiled a 160-gigabyte version of its iPod Classic for $249 and cut the price of the 2-gigabyte Shuffle to $59.
ITunes Store