After Wednesday local time, the latest 13F file for the fourth quarter of 2023 released by Berkshire Hathaway, a subsidiary of Buffett, shows that Berkshire Hathaway reduced its holdings of 10 million Apple stocks in the fourth quarter of last year. Based on the average stock price during the period, the market value of the reduction was approximately $1.822 billion (approximately RMB 13.1 billion). However, currently Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway's largest holdings, accounting for 50.19% of disclosed assets.
At the same time, Apple's heavyweight products have suffered a "crash". The Apple Vision Pro, with a starting price of up to $3499 (approximately RMB 25000), has been on sale in the beauty industry for less than two weeks. Google search trends show a surge in search volume for "return Apple Vision Pro". According to Phoenix Technology, on February 14th Beijing time, Apple Vision Pro has started receiving returns from users one after another.
In addition, a personnel change regarding the Apple design team has also attracted attention. On February 14th, Bloomberg reported that according to insiders, Bart Andre, the longest serving senior industrial designer at Apple, is about to resign. This marks the almost complete dissolution of the "soul team" led by former renowned Apple designer Jony Ive to create Apple aesthetics.
Buffett suddenly sold off
After Wednesday local time, the latest 13F file for the fourth quarter of 2023 released by Berkshire Hathaway, a subsidiary of Buffett, shows that Berkshire Hathaway reduced its holdings of 10 million Apple stocks in the fourth quarter of last year. Based on the average stock price during the period, the market value of the reduction was approximately $1.822 billion (approximately RMB 13.1 billion). The company's shareholding in Apple has decreased to 5.9%.
Currently, Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway's largest holdings, accounting for 50.19% of disclosed assets. According to Dow Jones market data, the value of this portion of the shares on Wednesday was approximately $167 billion.
It is worth noting that Apple's recent stock price performance has not been satisfactory, and it has clearly fallen behind in the camp of large technology companies in the US stock market, losing the crown of the most valuable company in the US. As of the latest closing, Apple has experienced a cumulative decline of over 4% this year, while the Nasdaq index has surged by over 5% during the same period. In contrast, Nvidia surged 49%, Microsoft's cumulative increase reached 9.1%, and Google's increase exceeded 4%.
Meanwhile, Apple also faces a series of challenges, including regulatory scrutiny of its App Store policy, declining sales in the Chinese market, and investor concerns about its growth prospects. Several analysts have downgraded the rating of this stock.
According to the latest disclosed 13F documents, Berkshire also reduced its holdings in HP in the fourth quarter of last year, while increasing its holdings in Chevron and Western Oil. The company's heavy holdings include Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Coca Cola, and Chevron. As of the end of the fourth quarter, the total holdings of the fund were $347 billion, an increase of $34 billion from the previous quarter.
Apple's Big Crash
Apple Vision Pro has been on sale in the beauty industry for less than two weeks, and Google search trend data shows a surge in search volume for "return Apple Vision Pro".
On February 14th, Phoenix Technology reported that less than two weeks after its launch, Apple's first headset Vision Pro has started receiving returns from users.
Some users have listed the reasons for returns on social platform X (formerly Twitter), mainly including:
1. Wearing it on the head is very heavy. Although the Vision Pro may seem lightweight, it actually weighs 600-650 grams, close to the weight of a 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
2. Not friendly to the eyes.
3. It gives me a headache, and every time I wear it, I have a headache for several hours.
4. There are not enough applications, and if you want to use this device to complete work, it lacks many essential items such as Chrome and Grammarly.
5. It's too big to carry and can't even fit into a backpack.
6. Anxiety about battery life, the Vision Pro's battery capacity is only 3166mAh, at most two and a half hours, and this thing runs out of battery.
"I cannot use it as a technology/productivity device," said Farzad Mesbahi, a YouTube technology video blogger
He said that even if he can sit comfortably, wearing a device on his head and face would be very inconvenient. I won't use the headsets for long periods of time like I do with smartphones, tablets, and computers.
According to a report from Phoenix Technology, some users admit that they purchased Vision Pro just to return it and experience its features. One of the users, Matt Schneider, purchased the Vision Pro (which he later returned) and enjoyed using it to browse Instagram and watch YouTube videos. He said, "If Apple thinks I'll spend $4000 on it, then they're crazy."
It is worth mentioning that Facebook's parent company Meta CEO Zuckerberg also experienced Vision Pro, and the result may give him a sigh of relief. Due to the direct competition between Meta's headsets and Vision Pro, the quality of Apple's headsets will directly affect Meta.
On February 13th local time, Zuckerberg posted a video on Instagram, commenting on Vision Pro. Zuckerberg filmed this video using the penetration mode of Quest 3 (Meta's VR device) in the living room.
Zuckerberg stated that after using Vision Pro, "I not only believe Quest is more cost-effective, but I also believe it is a better product and do not accept refutation (period).".
He believes that Quest 3 is 120 grams lighter in weight, making it more comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. Due to the absence of a wired battery pack, it has a wider range of motion and a wider field of view than the Vision Pro.
As of the time of publication, Apple has not responded to these criticisms and has not specified the current amount of returns.
On February 2nd local time, Apple Vision Pro was officially released in the United States. According to Apple's official website, the 256 GB version is priced at $3499 (approximately RMB 25000); The 512GB version is priced at $3699 (approximately RMB 26700), while the 1TB version is priced at $3899 (approximately RMB 28000).
All members of the "soul team" that created Apple aesthetics disbanded
On February 14th, Bloomberg reported that according to insiders, Bart Andre, the longest serving senior industrial designer at Apple, is about to resign. This marks the almost complete dissolution of the "soul team" led by former well-known Apple designer Johnny Ive to create Apple aesthetics.
Famous Apple whistleblower Mark Gurman recently wrote an article stating that Andre joined Apple with Eve in 1992, earlier than Steve Jobs' second entry into the palace. As Ive's senior deputy, Andre helped create the aesthetics of all the products released by Apple over the past thirty years, making him one of the employees holding the most patents from Apple.
According to insiders, the designer who has been working at Apple for over 30 years told colleagues that he is about to retire. This is undoubtedly another huge blow for Apple. By the end of 2023, top designers Colin Burns, Shota Aoyagi, and Peter Russell Clarke had announced their departure.
According to Gulman, in the past decade or so, Ive's core design team has had about two dozen designers, or around 24 people. After Ive left Apple in 2019, the team began to continuously decline, and many people joined LoveFrom, a design company founded by Ive. Two years ago, the company began collaborating with Apple.
Previously, it was reported that Sam Altman, CEO of artificial intelligence research company OpenAI, has planned to collaborate with Ive's LoveFrom to develop hardware devices for consumers, and they also hope to obtain over $1 billion in financing from SoftBank.
When it comes to the reasons for the departure of designers such as Andre, insiders explained that in 2023, Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams began directly managing the industrial design team, leading to dissatisfaction among some employees who found it difficult to accept the management of this design and innovation department by operations personnel.
The employees of the design team also stated that the cost reduction measures have exacerbated the instability in the department, as Ive has led some exploratory projects that may not immediately yield returns and are now strictly controlled.
Apple CEO Cook once mentioned that Apple already has a very detailed succession plan, and Williams is considered one of the popular candidates by the outside world.