A shift in the universe

Wherein Cingular is a big negative


San Francisco Gate:

Shares of Apple rose more than 8.3 percent Tuesday to $92.57 per share on news of the iPhone. Meanwhile, competitors Palm, the Sunnyvale maker of the Treo smart phone, fell nearly 5.7 percent to $13.92 per share and Research in Motion dropped 7.85 percent to $131 per share.

John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, remembers a quote:

Remember back in November when Palm CEO Ed Colligan was quoted saying, with regard to a then-hypothetical Apple phone, “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

Guess what? They’re just walking in.

Gruber also linked to a one day graph of Apple's stock price graphed against Palm and RIM. His linked graph is updating so it doesn't show the stark reality of yesterday's end-of-day returns. But this snapshot of the last five days displays a definate change in the playing field. The Apple iPhone won't be out for another five months, yet everyone else is already playing catchup.