Apple will introduce Monday the new versions of iOS and OSX operating systems, a delicate moment for the company, which changed late last year the management of the team responsible for software and interface design.
The WWDC conference organized every year for Apple application developers will begin Monday in San Francisco.
The main event of the conference, which will take place Monday afternoon, will bring on stage the CEO Tim Cook and other executives of the company, who will present two new versions of operating systems: iOS (for mobile devices: iPhone, iPad) and OSX (for Mac computers and laptops).
The general public will have access to early versions of the two systems developed after the re-organization of the management of Apple software division, now under the control of Jony Ive, one of Steve Jobs’ trusted men, the lead designer of many Apple products.
Tomorrow’s event has a higher stake for Apple than in other years, due to the skepticism and mistrust among investors about company’s ability to continue the rapid pace of innovation to remain a dominant force in the mobile market and maintain high profit margins.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares have dropped by 17% since the beginning of this year. Friday, Apple stock was up 0.8% on NASDAQ, recovering its decline in the first part of the stock market session due to a report sent around noon by an analyst who believes that the group might surprise everybody on Monday by launching a low cost iPhone or an improved version of iPhone 5.
The excitement generated by new products in recent years has been one of the growth engine of Apple shares, but the company has kept silent the last few months, after it refreshed last fall most of its product lines.
However, Apple is cornered by tough competition on the smartphone market and the strategy of relying on a high quality expensive single product which has become a weak point for the company as demand increases for cheaper products. The company has already yielded to pressures coming from the tablet market and launched last fall an iPad mini, a smaller, more efficient and cheaper version of the Apple tablet.
Apple’s new operating system for mobile devices most likely will be called iOS 7. It is anticipated that the new version will bring major changes from previous versions, due to the influence of Jony Ive.
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