Apple stock dropped Monday on news that its PC shipments dropped 40% in the first quarter. But Micron Technology and Western Digital benefited from rival Samsung's disclosure that it has cut back on memory chip production. MU stock and WDC stock both surged.
Apple's personal computer shipments declined by 40.5% to 4.1 million in the first quarter, according to market research firm IDC. Overall, global shipments fell 29% to 56.9 million, IDC said.
Lenovo and Dell also posted drops of more than 30%.
A Drop For Apple Stock
Apple stock fell 1.6% to close at 162.03 on the stock market today.
Meanwhile, MU stock popped 8% to 63.27 on Monday. WDC stock jumped 8.2% to finish at 38.04 as Samsung late last week disclosed that it's cutting memory chip production.
"Samsung's actions support our view that the company is not aggressively chasing market share," Raymond James analyst Srini Pajjuri said in a note to clients. Samsung holds about 45% of the memory chip market, he noted.
"We expect Samsung's cuts to accelerate memory price recovery, and are optimistic that the severity of the current downturn will lead to structurally better supply discipline in the industry going forward," Pajjuri added.
Micron stock had gained 17% in 2023. Western Digital stock has advanced 11% this year.
Meanwhile, Apple stock had been up 27% in 2023 as of Thursday's market close.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
