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Tech Check
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Apple's [AAPL
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]shareholder meeting landed with a thud with no real fireworks, no shareholder measures passing, the company's slate of directors re-elected and no new tidbits of information surrounding Steve Jobs and his health.
But that doesn't mean that some shareholders were left wanting more, lots more, when it comes to Jobs and his health and Apple's succession plans. A shareholder representing the AFL-CIO opened the Q&A session by asking Apple what it knew and when did it know it regarding Jobs and his health. Genentech CEO Art Levinson answered by saying Jobs released a letter on January 14, and that the company regularly reviews succession. And that was it. COO Tim Cook later said that Apple has adhered to all disclosure laws and if there's something the Board "deem(s) important," it'll disclose it.
Shareholder Dr. Daniel Tuerck wasn't satisfied. As a physician, he says, "I can understand the need for medical privacy.
"Because he is Apple, I think they have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders to be more forthcoming the extent of his illness and the succession plan...I feel like they're hiding something, and I want to know what they're hiding. Dazzle with their footwork is the second part of an old saying and that's what they were doing to us today."
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CNBC.com |
I heard that sentiment from several shareholders after the meeting, which as I posted earlier, wasn't streamed live, nor were reporters allowed to live-blog the event, restrictions that Apple has regularly instituted. Though "cheddarmuff" and "idannyb" from the Apple Sanity Board (registration required) did manage to sneak out a live blog of their own (good on you guys! Great work) that was picked up by the CNN Money website. Got to meet "cheddarmuff" as well. Good fella. Forcing the media to "sneak" out information from what should obviously be a public forum, especially when other tech counterparts like Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco and General Electric (our parent) stream their meetings, is bizarre to me, and many other media attending today. And it's a bone-headed move since the company could've shown all who tuned in that Apple was still being managed well, and that it seems to be business as usual, even though Jobs isn't around.
Seems like a missed opportunity to me.
And from the sublime to the ridiculous: one shareholder stood up, lauded the company for its great products, and then, to acknowledge Steve Jobs' 54th birthday yesterday, asked all the assembled investors to stand up and sing "Happy Birthday." It was so weird. Talk about an OMG moment.
Meantime, Apple's board was almost fully represented, except for Jobs of course, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt who couldn't apparently make it. Maybe he didn't want to field any questions as to why he sits on Apple's board even though Google is doing what it can to unsettle the iPhone momentum by trying to get its Android mobile operating system on as many non-Apple handsets as it can. That was a serious concern voiced to me by Apple shareholder Tom Broderick.
So all in all, a dry meeting where the action away from the ball seemed far more interesting than the actual "prevent" itself (see my earlier post.)
And whether that action away from the ball matters or not, the fact is Apple's Mac business is growing far faster than the rest of the industry, even though the devices carry a price premium against all competitors; Apple sold more iPods in its history during the worst holiday shopping quarter in 40 years; and the iPhone keeps beating sales expectations even though rival Research in Motion keeps unveiling various iPhone killers like "Storm" and "Bold."
Not to mention better than $30 billion in cash in the bank, which may or may not be more cash than Exxon-Mobile has.
Those are the fundamentals that matter, and if Apple can keep up that kind of momentum, everything else is just noise. Including my complaints about how the company hamstrings those of us trying to cover it.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes