Prior to the launch Apple’s shares climbed more than 4% in one session as investors anticipated a healthy appetite for the new product.
But the tech giant, which is the top holding of Cormac Weldon’s £2bn Threadneedle American Fund, closed down 3.26% on Tuesday after the price tag on the iPad Mini came out at $329, significantly higher than the $250 consensus among analysts.
Other funds with significant holdings in the firm are Artis Vatis’ £1bn Fidelity American Fund and perhaps more surprisingly Ian McVeigh and Steve Davies’ £724m Jupiter UK Growth Fund, who have 3.8% of the fund invested in Apple.
Rather than see this price point as a reason to sell, however, the managers might view the stock’s subsequent weakness as an opportunity to top up their positions.
Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co, said: “While the pricing for the iPad Mini is higher than had been rumoured, and is significantly above competitors, we believe it was correctly decided.
“Many of Apple’s competitors are selling at cost and if Apple had attempted to compete directly with them on price, it would have had a significant impact on gross margins.”
On top of the new iPad Mini Apple announced a new fourth generation iPad model, a 13-inch MacBook Pro and a refreshed iMac range, which all point towards a strong sales quarter.
Jackson concluded: “With Apple’s strong line-up of new products [including the recently revealed iPhone 5] we believe that it should have a very strong Christmas quarter and we would be buyers on its current price weakness.”
