Did Buffett Just Compare Apple To BlackBerry? Uh Oh

Apple stock (Nasdaq:AAPL) was up almost four percent on Friday due in part to Berkshire Hathaway revealing a big stake in Apple shares. But one thing he said bothered us.

Blackberry 10 Years Ago?

Did Warren Buffett just compare Apple to BlackBerry? Here’s what he said.

“The idea that you’re going to spend loads of time trying to guess how many iPhone Xs are going to be sold in a three-month period totally misses the point. It’s like worrying about the number of BlackBerrys 10 years ago.”

Uh, did I hear that right? Nobody caught that?

Please pull up a chart of BlackBerry 10 years ago and see if anything jumps out at you. Here you go.
 

Source

BlackBerry 10 years ago traded at about $140. Now it trades at about $10.

BlackBerry was run over by competitors in that time frame including Apple. Now Apple faces multiple competitors namely in Asia where business has been most competitive. If you were an investor in BlackBerry 10 years ago should you have been paying attention to the three month numbers?

I say we should always care how a company does on their quarterly report cards. We of course always need to put that in perspective with the companies expectations, strategy and competitive landscape.

Those who didn’t pay attention to Blackberry’s sales slide 10 years ago had to carry a big loss.

Warren Buffett is, without a doubt, one of the best investors ever to live. He has himself shied away from tech stocks. Business dynamics change rapidly in tech with new entrants and new technologies.

I hope for Apple that Buffett’s 10 year BlackBerry comment wasn’t a bad omen. Looking at the BlackBerry chart though makes me want to watch Apple’s quarterly results even closer.