Apple Hit With Securities Fraud Lawsuit for Hiding iPhone Sales Drop

Apple is facing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of securities fraud for making false statements and failing to disclose adverse information regarding its business prospects. These actions allegedly led to an artificially inflated stock price.

Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Apple was not initially forthcoming about a drop in demand for the iPhone due to poor sales in China and the 2018 battery replacement program, both of which contributed to lower than expected ‌iPhone‌ sales in the first fiscal quarter of 2019.

iphonexr
Apple is also accused of hiding the fact that production orders from suppliers had been slashed and prices had been cut, Apple's decision not to provide unit sales for iPhones and other hardware is also cited as a method Apple used to cause stock prices to rise to $209 per share.

When Apple did reveal the dip in ‌iPhone‌ sales and announced that it would not make its quarterly revenue forecast, Apple's stock fell $15 per share from $157.92 on January 2 to $142.19 per share on January 3. According to the lawsuit, Apple knew its ‌iPhone‌ sales weren't on track months before the information was shared.

The lawsuit, filed by the City of Roseville employees' retirement fund, is aiming to recover damages on behalf of people who purchased Apple stock between November 2, 2018 and January 2, 2019. Tim Cook and Luca Maestri are both named as defendants.

Update: A second law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, which is essentially identical to the first lawsuit. It also accuses Apple of securities fraud for concealing the ‌iPhone‌'s decline in sales.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

When Will Apple Release iOS 26.2?

Monday December 1, 2025 4:37 pm PST by
We're getting closer to the launch of the final major iOS update of the year, with Apple set to release iOS 26.2 in December. We've had three betas so far and are expecting a fourth beta or a release candidate this week, so a launch could follow as soon as next week. Past Launch Dates Apple's past iOS x.2 updates from the last few years have all happened right around the middle of the...
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
iphone 17 cyber

iPhone 17 Demand Is Breaking Apple's Sales Records

Tuesday December 2, 2025 9:44 am PST by
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup is selling well enough that Apple is on track to ship more than 247.4 million total iPhones in 2025, according to a new report from IDC. Total 2025 shipments are forecast to grow 6.1 percent year over year due to iPhone 17 demand and increased sales in China, a major market for Apple. Overall worldwide smartphone shipments across Android and iOS are forecast to...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....
Touchscreen MacBook Feature

Here Are the Four MacBooks Apple Is Expected to Launch Next Year

Monday December 1, 2025 5:00 am PST by
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop. Below is a breakdown of what we're expecting over the next ...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air's Resale Value Has Dropped Dramatically, Data Shows

Thursday December 4, 2025 5:27 am PST by
The iPhone Air has recorded the steepest early resale value drop of any iPhone model in years, with new data showing that several configurations have lost almost 50% of their value within ten weeks of launch. According to a ten-week analysis published by SellCell, Apple's latest lineup is showing a pronounced split in resale performance between the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air....
chatgpt logo

Sam Altman Declares 'Code Red' for ChatGPT, Delays OpenAI Advertising Plans

Tuesday December 2, 2025 3:30 pm PST by
OpenAI is deprioritizing work on advertising as it focuses on improving the quality of ChatGPT, reports The Information. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a "code red" on Monday, and told employees that the company needs to improve ChatGPT so it doesn't fall behind competitors like Google and Anthropic. Altman said that OpenAI needs to work on personalization for each user, image generation,...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

iPhone 17 Pro Lost a Camera Feature Pro Models Have Had Since 2020

Thursday December 4, 2025 5:18 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro models, it turns out, can't take photos in Night mode when Portrait mode is selected in the Camera app – a capability that's been available on Apple's Pro devices since the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020. If you're an iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max owner, try it for yourself: Open the Camera app with Photo selected in the carousel, then cover the rear lenses with your hand to...

Top Rated Comments

ryanwarsaw Avatar
87 months ago
Some people sold their stock too low and now comes the crying.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
87 months ago
The fish rots from its head: Tim Crook

Really don't like what the guys been doing over the years, stalling consumer technology progress.

Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baymowe335 Avatar
87 months ago
Looks like the market is devastated with AAPL up 2% today and marching higher again.

People get mad when then sell stock too low.

They didn’t “hide” anything. They told investors they would no longer report unit sales in 2019, which is their choice. You could sell if you thought that ruined the company (lol).

Tons of public companies don’t report metrics investors might like to know. Ever look at Google’s financials? Impossible to understand. No Pixel sales. Microsoft doesn’t report unit sales for their hardware and Samsung doesn’t even report Galaxy unit sales.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
87 months ago
He is scum and a charlatan.
He’s a great philanthropic law-abiding citizen who has done more for the world than almost anyone posting here.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
87 months ago
The fish rots from its head: Tim Crook
Let's try this again…



In this case, we're talking about the head that revolutionized Apple's supply chain, buying up millions of CNC machines the early 200s, and enabling Jony Ive's designs to be realized on a mass scale, right? Prior to Cook's intervention, Macs were made in multiple countries with parts being flown back and forth at various stages of assembly. A part from California would by flown to Amsterdam for additional work before being flown back to California.

Really don't like what the guys been doing over the years, stalling consumer technology progress.
Again, he's responsible for coordinating manufacturing that every tech company on the world has adopted as standard. I just got done with Ive's biography, and it seems to me that people advocating against Cook have a rather myopic view of Apple.

At the turn of the century, Apple was like every other tech company; engineers made things and then designers added their "skinned" them. Jobs returned a few days before Ive wanted to quit and reemphasized Apple's ethos: to make great products.

Everything was turned on its head. Function followed form; if the Mac mini were a couple mm larger, it could've housed a less expensive full-sized drive, but Ive and Jobs had twenty models constructed and liked the feeling of the ever-so-slightly-smaller design.

The unibody enclosures that are now characteristic of Apple products were only possible because of the manufacturing Tim secured, the complaints that Animoji and other superficial **** are taking focus away from functionality mirror those of people who believed that Apple's stupid attention to form inhibited function. And Apple's prices have always sucked; the Mac, the iMac, and the iPod were all extremely pricey relative to the competition and their own intended prices.

Nonetheless, Apple has pushed the industry forward, and each of Ive's reductionist designs are copied by all of the competition about half a decade later. No disk drive on the iMac, no CD drive on 2012 MacBooks, and no headphone jack on the iPhone. Some of these decisions were executed under Jobs and are now carried out by Tim.

tl;dr: you can put an "r" between "C" and "ook" all you want, you can claim you're thinking different (even though it's similar to a lotta thinking on this site), but that doesn't change the fact that the Animoji-obsessed, price gouging Tim Cook has pushed the industry forward and is partially responsible for all of Apple's success since the early 2000s.

Attachment Image
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oghowie Avatar
87 months ago
These lawsuits are so dumb.

What if I told you Apple stock is back at $200 now?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)