Apple stock down ahead of release of new iPhone

Apple’s stock price took a four per cent dive on Wednesday and continued its downward trajectory Thursday as bad news mounted ahead of its release of iPhone 6.

The impetus for the drop, which took Apple’s stock from $103 Sept. 2 to below $98 today, appeared to be Samsung’s release of its new smartphones and virtual reality headset.

Apple’s iPhone 6 launch is set for Sept. 9, but, Samsung's launch yesterday included a number of new features, including flexible display, that may beat them to the punch.

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Apple has not released details about its launch, which may include wearable technology. But investors believe it needs a significant breakthrough to retain its cachet as the technology trend-setter.

The nude celebrity photo leak may also be wearing on the stock. Apple has asserted that the incident, in which hackers broke into iPhone accounts for numerous A-list celebrities, was not the result of a flaw in its iCloud system.

But all of the attention focuses on iCloud, an internet-based storage system that makes it possible for users to access their data and photos from any device no matter where they are.  

Security is an increasingly sore point for the entire tech world, with the theft of credit card information from potentially millions of Home Depot customers the latest example of how crime is migrating online.

Apple’s security systems, formerly thought to be quite robust, will be under deeper scrutiny, no matter who is at fault in the release of nude photos.

There is more bad news for Apple today.

An undercover investigator for activist groups China Labour Watch and Green America got into an Apple manufacturing plant in China and found violations of safety and pay rules.

Catcher Technology in the eastern city of Suqian was the focus of a probe by the activist groups in 2013 and Apple was supposed to have insisted that management improve conditions..

But the latest probe uncovered mandatory overtime of up to 100 hours per month, in excess of the legal limit of 36 hours, and failure to pay some wages to its 20,000 employees.

Apple has said it will investitate the report at Catcher, which makes parts for Apple’s iPad and Macbook. Most Apple products are made by a network of Chinese suppliers.