Apple stock falls. So what else is new?

I manage a couple of stock portfolios (if you can call buy-and-hold “managing”) that are heavily invested in Apple. In our family are two Apple desktop computers in the house; in our storage building are another two. At the high ranch and at the lake are four laptops and a desktop. iPods abound. Our vehicles all sport Apple logos on the tailgates and back windows. (Did I just say Windows?)

Yesterday Apple Inc. reported Macintosh computer sales growth of more than 40% over the same quarter last year. They secured third place in US sales, right after HP and Dell, even though they aren’t pursuing any sales to businesses. Half of the buyers are switching from Windows. Apple’s retail stores make more money per square foot than any other retailer on the planet, roughly twice as much as the previous record holder, the jeweler Tiffany & Co.

And as usual, Apple’s stock took a big hit, dropping 6% in value. Why? It always happens when they report record earnings. If it didn’t happen, I’d be worried; something would be wrong. As long as history repeats itself, I’m comfortable.

Apple announced “state of the art new products at prices our competitors can’t match.” It used to be that Apple products were sold at a premium to those of other manufacturers. Recently they pre-purchased almost 50% of the annual output of memory chips from Samsung in Korea, the world’s largest supplier. With Apple buying enormous chunks of essential parts, other makers can only hope to sweep up the scraps left on the factory floors before the rats pee on them during the night.

One thing that could be causing anxiety among Apple investors is the rumored ill health of Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs. At his last public appearance in early June, he was gaunt. He is the 53-year-old survivor (so far) of pancreatic cancer which was diagnosed in 2004. Supposedly he was completely cured. Investors think if he passes the company could founder. I don’t share that feeling. After all, when the great American cultural icon Walt Disney died, his company continued to prosper and is successful beyond even Walt’s wildest dreams.

I happened to be in Fresno early on the morning of July 11. I drove past an AT&T phone store and saw quite a commotion; the new iPhone was going on sale at 8 o’clock and there were several hundred people circling the store. The first person in line was being interviewed by a reporter from Channel 47, my old alma mater. This kind of enthusiasm on the part of customers is simply non-existent for most companies. How many people surround a Chevrolet dealership right before the new Malibus arrive? There were maybe four people in line at Best Buy and CompUSA combined when Windows Vista made its limp debut one forgettable midnight, and they were probably homeless, hoping to come in from the cold and scarf some free weak coffee and a stale white-flour-and-high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweetened artificially-flavored and -colored cookie.

Jobs is a good leader and his passion for perfection shows in all the company’s products. (Many companies make maybe four or five prototypes of a new product before deciding which to use. Apple makes, literally, hundreds of prototypes.) There are lots of very capable people at the company and all they have to do is pick one among themselves to be the public face to keep the fans happy. Tim Cook, Jon Ive, and a whole inner circle of creators can keep up the flow of awesome products. I’m not worried.

Besides, I’m investing other people’s money, not mine.