Apple profits for Q1 2013 came in lower at US$ 9.56 billion, which was expected but was the first time that profits have been down for ten years. This does however compare to an exceptional quarter the previous year.

Most investors over this ten year period have seen their investment do nothing but grow but since last September when the share price peaked at US$ 700, they have lost 40% in value, currently around US $400.

To try and stem the flow of selling and support the company's share price, they are carrying out a share buy back programme to US $ 100 billion, using up some of their massive cash pile. On the back of this the afterhours share price in the US rose 5%.

The markets that Apple has pioneered are under pressure and the loyal Apple followers have had their patience tested through the release of upgrades to the iPhone and iPad, that were not that rich in features to warrant ditching your current model.

Changing the connector on the iPhone 5 so that chargers and hundreds of thousands of other audio devices, a complete industry built around the iPhone and iPad, were instantly obsolete, has caused a lot of bad feeling amongst Apple users.

Apple have always been so confident of the quality of their product that they have assumed the faithful will buy no matter what but there are now credible alternatives available and they can no longer assume that there will be a rush to buy the next new model .