Investor Relations

The investor relations section of Apple.com offers stock information, earning releases, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and company governance information. The company’s annual report is more of an economical piece than an effective marketing strategy. Apple simply posts different downloadable files of its annual SEC 10-K filings as a means of compliance. The company does not take the opportunity to release information about its annual report in language more likely to be understood by the public, and does not take this opportunity to tell the company’s story. Investor relations, like any sector of public relations in a company, should use its annual report not only as company compliance, but as a means of reaching investors with more marketing and story telling.

After searching the web for a letter to Apple shareholders from CEO Steve Jobs, it became evident that there were none to be found, and Apple needs to improve their investor relations concerning the stock market. I did, however, find a press release with the headline that read: “In a rare open letter from CEO Steve Jobs on Tuesday, Apple urged record companies to abandon digital rights management technologies.” The fact that this type of letter is so “rare” explains why I had a hard time finding one to shareholders.

After reading this rare letter to Apple customers concerning requests to “open” the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple’s iTunes music store uses to protect its music against theft, it was clear to me that it was a definite PR driven letter that was likely written by a PR professional working for Apple. The letter definitely drove home the message that Apple does not own or control any music itself, and that the company licenses the rights to distribute music from four primary music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. The letter was well composed in the way that it clarified Apple’s negotiation history with these companies, and that went on to say “With this background, let’s now explore three different alternatives for the future.” The letter did this in a way that made clear to readers that Apple has addressed these DRM concerns and where they stand as a company. The letter, which you can check out at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/ was very informative.

I read many news releases and news stories concerning Apple’s earnings. The news releases were rather wordy, and used a lot of technical language that made them a little difficult to follow. The news stories that I read were a little easier to understand, but many were submitted online by people who owned stock in Apple and again, they used a lot of technical language. The basic message that I got from all of the news releases was that Apple’s earnings are expected to increase at about 42% this fiscal year ending in September, and 17% in fiscal 2008. The rest of it was a lot of “strong buys” and “holds” and “consensus ratings” that were over my head; not very reader friendly.

More Apple investment information can be found at http://www.apple.com/investor/