The only thing to cheer on Wall Street today was that trading finally ended. The markets take a tumble, dragged down by an Apple.
Apple (AAPL) stocks suffer a bite that cut Wall Street deep. The newly released iPhone6 suffered early on from widespread complaints about Apple's new iOS 8 operating system as well as the durability of the large iPhone 6 Plus. And now, a potential bending problem that's already being called "bendgate" went viral hitting the company's stock hard. Apple stock fell nearly 4% today contributing to the Dow's 264 point drop.
Apple responded Thursday evening, minimizing this issue to an "extremely rare" occurrence and claimed on nine customers reached out to Apple to report the defect.
- Read the full statement from Apple:
Our iPhones are designed, engineered and manufactured to be both beautiful and sturdy. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature a precision engineered unibody enclosure constructed from machining a custom grade of 6000 series anodized aluminum, which is tempered for extra strength. They also feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry. We chose these high-quality materials and construction very carefully for their strength and durability. We also perform rigorous tests throughout the entire development cycle including 3-point bending, pressure point cycling, sit, torsion, and user studies. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus meet or exceed all of our high quality standards to endure everyday, real life use. With normal use a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus. As with any Apple product, if you have questions please contact Apple.
But should Apple shoulder the blame or are there other factors impacting the financial markets?
View a graph of the DOW's record low drop on Thursday.
--Graphic by Travis Cornejo