Apple shares have gained ground on Wall Street after falling more than 4 per cent yesterday when broker advice to sell the shares compounded already tainted sentiment amid hacking rumours.
The ‘sell’ note from Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Boston suggested the forthcoming iPhone 6 launch could garner a muted response from consumers.
“If the announced products and services do not suggest massive incremental profit opportunities, we are likely to downgrade our rating for AAPL”.
This was enough to send Apple stock down to $98.44 at close of trade yesterday. It dipped a further 1 per cent on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index before heading north to trade around $99 by mid morning.
Apple had been forced to defend the integrity of its iCloud service after explicit photographs were stolen from celebrities’ phones and posted on 4chan, a photo-sharing website.
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Actresses including Jennifer Lawrence and Mary Winstead were among the victims targeted.
Apple’s security on iCloud, the storage service where the celebrities’ intimate photos were backed up, had initially been blamed for the images appearing online.
However it said in a statement that it had fully investigated the breach.
“Certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions,” the company said. “None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved.”
Meanwhile, Samsung has announced its latest range of large-screen smartphones, which include the Galaxy Note Edge with a curved side screen allowing quick access to apps. Microsoft has also pipped Apple by announcing the release of the Nokia Lumia “selfie phone” which has been developed specfically for selfies and Skype.
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Apple’s iPhone 6 is expected to have a larger screen than previous models but still come in slightly smaller than Samsung’s latest models. The launch is expected to be accompanied by the announcement of a new iWatch.
Professor Andre Spicer of Cass Business School in London said that Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, faced a “triple challenge”, ahead of the double launch of the iPhone 6 and iWatch — a gadget that uses mobile technology — next week.
He said Mr Cook would have to “convince the public he can fill the shoes of Steve Jobs, convince investors that Apple is still an innovation powerhouse, and convince consumers that smart watches are worth their hard-earned money.
“The public is becoming more concerned about who owns and controls the stream of personal data about things like health produced by wearable technology,” he said.
“It seems strange we force prisoners to wear tracking technology, but trendy smart watch users pay for the privilege.”
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Despite yesterday’s sell-off, Apple’s shares remain close to their all-time high of just over $100.