Piqqem sentiment shows positive Apple trend
updated 04:35 pm EDT, Thu May 14, 2009
Apple sentiment positive
Feelings of the investment community towards Apple are on an upward trend, according to the most recent polls conducted by Piqqem. Although Apple has never fallen below 2.5 on a 0 to 4 spectrum, the company has shown a slight decline during the past three months, only returning to a more positive trend within recent weeks.
Since February, Apple sentiment declines have been more subtle than other competitors in the computer category, only falling from 2.96 to 2.66 before rebounding to the current 2.78 -- a 6.5 percent increase since March. All the while, Apple has remained above the 1.5 to 2.5 segment that is considered to be neutral sentiment. PC market competitors have nearly all remained in neutral territory, with only Microsoft reaching a peak of 2.53 in February before slipping below HP to its current 2.14 sentiment.
In comparison to other smartphone producers, Apple has again maintained an edge over rivals, only declining 9 percent in the past three months. However, both Nokia and Palm have showed more consistently positive trends with increases of 15 and 32 percent, respectively.
The upward trend Piqqem has observed could be a product of Apple's strong first-quarter earnings report, as well as rumors concerning Steve Jobs' health being driven away. Additionally, the trend could be related to speculations about the release of a new iPhone and other new products at June's WWDC event.
