Apple being downgraded

[Orb]

To prove my point that end of 2012 will be more challenging for Apple, and 2013 will see them more squeezed by competition;
Samsung profits jump as smartphone sales outstrip Apple
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...-jump-as-smartphone-sales-outstrip-Apple.html

No risk to Apple share price for now, but something to consider for last quarter of 2012/1st quarter of 2013.
Even if one still is going to hold beyond this, it makes sense to plan when, or what circumstances will help to decide the time to sell.
Many private investors never define their strategy for selling a share, in fact investors should also use a strategy defining viability of purchasing a stock but that is a different point and discussion.

Cheers
Orb

 

[Soundproof]

There were also a lot of skeptics when Apple was around USD 10.

If Apple's products were at saturation point in the market, then I would worry, but the majority are not. Their only points of domination are tablet and iPhone sales, and these are markets that are expanding, and have enormous room for expansion. What will happen, is that traditional PCs, large computers and even laptop sales will suffer from the transfer to tablets/smartphones.
But this is where the iTunes Store, the App Store and the foray into digital media will assist Apple in picking up the slack.

If you have been buying content from the iTunes Store over the years, and graduated to the Cloud a while ago, only to find all your content suddenly available for all of your devices using the account ...

Apple is set for domination of content distribution, and that's the key - theirs has become the new format for the distribution, storage and enjoyment of digital content. Samsung's not there.

 

[Orb]

True,
but in content distribution you have other models such as spotify and their equivalents, which are starting to gain traction.
I am not saying it is doom and gloom or the stock price is going to tank, just that once Apple starts to become squeezed it can have an affect on sentiment from the big investment institutions, and in most ways it is them who control the stock price with the market makers.
I appreciate we all have different opinions on what will happen to stock prices in the future and that until then it is all assumptions, even from me.
One aspect that will become more of a headache I am sure will be court cases brought against Apple for protectionism, especially with regards to their content distribution model, but again that is an assumption of what I have seen happening in the past with other companies - bear in mind this does not have to be in the US, Europe is a real headache for the largest companies these days it seems (and at times too much so IMO).

Cheers
Orb