SB Equities

The story of Apple is amazing.  Founded by three guys in 1976, the company enjoyed great success in the 1980s, went into the doldrums in the 1990s but then skyrocketed in the 2000s.  Apple, its products and its culture are the subject of countless blogs but I am compelled to make a couple entries, for one simple reason – I’m a convert.  Five years ago, just prior to the introduction of the iPhone, practically everyone I knew, including the man in the mirror, used a Blackberry.  In the business sector, particularly the wonderful world of real estate, it was all Blackberry, all day.  Fast forward to today.  About half of the people I know carry an iPhone and most of those that don’t are thinking about getting one.   The graphics below really accentuate my point.

This first one shows the 5-year price trend for RIM’s stock.  RIM’s primary product is the ubiquitous Blackberry.

This second chart shows the 5-year price trend for Apple stock.  Of course, one of Apple’s primary products is the iPhone.

And the pricing trends for each stock clearly match the changing phone preferences here at NAI Daus.  I did a quick sampling in our office and found that 60% of the salespeople carry iPhones, 25% carry Androids and a mere 15% carry Blackberrys.  As recent as 3 years ago, this was the exact opposite, with Blackberrys having been the dominate device.  So the obvious question – what happened?  In my opinion, there are a few factors:

Easy as (apple) pie – The user interface for the iPhone is clearly easier than that for the Blackberry.  Although RIM saw this coming and tried to head off the storm by introducing the Storm (and subsequent Storm II), it was too little, too late.  Maneuvering thru the screens and apps using the iPhone is so simple and so intuitive that a child could use it.  And I offer my 7 year old son and his infatuation with Angry Birds as living proof.  Although the Android platform is a close second, the iPhone is still king of the hill and easily outpaces the Blackberry.

Apps happen – Apple has introduced several paradigm-shifting innovations, none more important than the Apps store.  The depth and breadth of app offerings is nothing short of amazing and it seems as if a new real estate app is introduced almost daily.  Cell phones were the first devices to remove some of the shackles from the real estate agent’s ankles, allowing us to make and receive calls from the road.  Blackberrys removed the even more shackles, allowing us to handle the ever-increasing velocity of emails from the road.  But the iPhone and its Apps store takes things to a whole new level.  Using a variety of specific apps, we can now edit documents, find new real estate listings, look up sales comparables, figure out mortgage payments, analyze cash flows and upload photos and video, all from the road.  Heck, we can even find the road, using a variety of GPS apps.  And while Blackberry has tried to catch up, it has been way too little, way too late.

Can you hear me now?  The iPhone had an exclusive contract with AT&T for the first four years of its existance.  It was great for AT&T users and not so good for those tied to contracts with T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon.  But this past February, Verizon became the second carrier to offer the iPhone and the floodgates have opened.   These gates will cease to exist by early next year, as Sprint will be carrying the iPhone starting this October and T-Mobile will be merging with AT&T by year-end.

Bottom line, I’m an iPhone convert.  The platform is too easy, the apps too expansive, the Verizon coverage too solid.  Now, if only I would have bought some stock in the late 1990s . . .