The price of Apple shares rose 1.74% to $116.30 by the end trading today, reaching trading levels not seen since December 2015 and representing Cupertino’s highest close of 2016.
Apple share prices have been buoyed by strong sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, rallying 13% since mid-September on the back of optimism about demand for the company’s latest flagships, according to Reuters. In the past three months, Apple’s stock has jumped nearly 20%.
However, the uptick is also undoubtedly connected to the unmitigated disaster Samsung has on its hands, as the South Korean tech giant announced today that it would permanently end sales of its failed Note 7 flagship.
Investors are betting that the demise of the iPhone 7 line’s primary smartphone rival will prove to be a massive boon to Apple, as its flagships are now the chief devices on the market. Major US wireless carriers, including Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, have already announced programs allowing customers to swap out their Note 7s for other devices, including the iPhone 7.
“The Apple share price was doing nothing for over a year – it was considered ex-growth – now it’s possibly the only name in town when it comes to buying a mobile phone,” said Michelle McGrade, chief investment officer at TD Direct Investing, according to MacRumors.
Samsung shares, on the other hand, have plummeted 8%, wiping out a whopping $18.8 billion of the beleaguered company’s market value in the process.
An interesting question is how Google will capitalize on the Samsung debacle, which has fortuitously coincided with the unveiling of its own Pixel line of smartphones.