INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Shares in Apple Inc fell 6 per cent on Friday, cutting the tech major's market value back to less than $1 trillion after it forecast
softer-than-expected sales for the holiday quarter and fueled nerves over iPhone sales by saying it would no longer release the figures.The
dip in Apple's shares to $208.50 knocked around $67 billion off its value, and put Amazon and Microsoft Corp back in the mix in the race
among the United States' big tech players to be the world's most valuable company.The Cupertino, California-based company blamed weakness in
emerging markets and foreign exchange costs for a disappointing forecast for sales in the run-up to Christmas that are crucial to results
for consumer electronics producers.Most analysts were still upbeat on fourth-quarter results, and there was no obvious fallout for rest of
the FAANG group of major US tech stocks
Shares in Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc and Google-owner Alphabet Inc all rose on a generally buoyant Wall Street.Eight
brokerages cut their price targets for Apple, but only one - Bank of America Merrill Lynch - cut its rating on the stock, to 'neutral' from
'buy'."Time for investors to adjust to the new disclosures," analysts from the brokerage said
"Although the long term opportunity is significant, we expect near term pressure on shares."The move announced on Thursday to stop reporting
unit sales data for iPhones, iPad and Mac computer products was widely criticized, with some arguing it meant Apple expected sales of
iPhones have now peaked."While the company believes units are a less relevant metric, we strongly disagree - particularly since we believe
iPhone units will begin to decline y/y as a result of higher average selling prices," Raymond James analysts said.Apple shares were down 6.4
per cent at $208.05 before the bell.
