Engadget sends Apple stock plunging on iPhone rumor

Millions of people, from hardcore computer geeks to high-finance Wall Street martini drinkers, hang on every word related to Apple. Sometimes, that can have consequences.

A midday plunge in Apple's stock was caused by an Engadget report based on a fake internal memo at Apple.

(Credit: Financialcontent.com)

Engadget posted a story Wednesday morning at 11:49am ET claiming that Apple was about to announce another delay of Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, as well as a delay for the iPhone, perhaps the most hyped gadget of all time.

"This one doesn't bode well for Mac fans and the iPhone-hopeful: we have it on authority that as of today, the iPhone launch is being pushed back from June to... October (!), and Leopard is again seeing a delay, this time being pushed all the way back to January," Engadget said. Panic ensued. Apple's stock immediately plunged 2.2 percent as investors contemplated another product delay at Apple, following the first Leopard delay as well as the Apple TV delay in February.

But around 20 minutes after the original post, Engadget started to update its story. First, the site said it had heard back from Apple PR that there was no delay. Then the full story started to emerge.

Apparently an internal memo was sent to several Apple employees--and forwarded to Engadget--around 9am CT today saying that Apple issued a press release with the news that the iPhone was now scheduled for October, and Leopard was delayed until January. About an hour and a half after that e-mail went out, a second e-mail was sent--this time officially from Apple--saying the first e-mail was a fake, and that the delivery schedule for the iPhone and Leopard had not changed. Engadget then updated its headline as "False alarm: iPhone delayed until October, Leopard delayed again until January.

Commenters on Engadget and Apple investor boards were not amused. Many of those comments are not printable in this space, but it's safe to say that there's some very unhappy Apple shareholders out there today. Apple's stock recovered as the full story emerged, but was still down slightly in afternoon trading.

Engadget said that the e-mail was forwarded by "a trustworthy source," and definitely sent from within Apple's internal e-mail system. "Presumably Apple is now on the hunt for whomever was able to spoof its internal email system," it said in a later version of the post that used a strikethrough font effect on the text of the original report.

UPDATED: An Apple representative confirmed that there has been no change in the company's schedule for both Leopard and the iPhone. "The communication is a fake and did not come from Apple," the representative said.

[desprod400]

No Apology Needed

Since internal e-mail is confidential and intended for the specified recipients only, Apple has nothing to apologize to the public for.

[albuminman]

Delays should not mean product failures

Even if the story is partially true, delays should not over shadow the quality of the product. Take the late charge for the delays and make up for it downstream with zero defect product output. The long run downstream benefits(revenues) the company receives will provide the company(Apple) to continue to be a front runner and long term existing entity. Therefore investors,take note and don't be so anxious, let the dust settle and then choose your route. - L8tr

[billped]

Stock *plunged*?

I am about as far away from being an Apple fanboy as possible, typing this from my PC - one of five in the house and another being built in the morning.

A 2% intraday change in a stock is hardly worthy of the word "plunge". IBM, Dell, and Cisco all had intraday changes today between 1.5% and 2% - some up, some down. Yes, the change was immediate, but all it takes is one big investor to cut out to make that type of change happen.

Based on the lead, I was expecting to see a 10+% drop. Instead, I was laughing.

[ianbnet]

Don't understand Engadget comments

There are some truly angry comments on the Engadget website, blaming them for the stock dip, for lost money... I'm sorry, but a cardinal rule of investing is investor responsibility to fact-check stories before making a buy/sell decision. A rumor/news blog is not going to get it right 100% of the time. The iPhone will come out at some point, its quality at time of release will help determine where Apple's stock will move from then.

[jasonkinnard]

Who cares?

I for one could care less about Apple because I'm not purchasing their overpriced crap anyway!