James Moore: Sky-high expectations for Apple bring clouds to Silicon Valley

Did someone steal the sun from Silicon Valley?

The share prices of its titans took a dive in after-market trading, Apple’s in particular.

The world’s biggest company did what it usually does when it announced the results for its third quarter.

Record this, record that, China is still hopelessly smitten with the iPhone, and just look at our cash pile.

Yet Apple shares took a beating like they haven’t seen for more than two years.

It was as if the combined linebacking corps of the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers took the short hop over to the Valley with the express purpose of running a blitz on the stock price.

Apple seems to have become the prisoner of the sky-high expectations attached to its every statement.

It actually beat those of Wall Street’s analysts but when the scribblers had drilled into the numbers they pronounced themselves disappointed not so much with the last quarter but with the guidance given for the current one, when revenues are expected to come in at between $49 billion (£31 billion) and $51 billion.

Moreover, despite sales of iPhones jumping by 35% against the comparable period last year, they still wanted more, noting that the drop-off from the second quarter — traditionally sharp given the company’s penchant for product launches in the current one — was also steeper than usual.

Does that seem like a storm in a virtual teacup? Perhaps an overheated market just needs time to pause for breath. Apple’s growth story isn’t over yet.

If there is anything to worry about, it is just how important the iPhone now is to its prospects. The smartphone accounts for 63% of sales.

What’s that you say? Something about a watch?

Now, apparently, is not the time to release data on sales of that. It might have shifted a shade over $1 billion-worth of units to the fanbois. But it’s hard to see it doing much to help solve the problem.