Jim Cramer: Apple’s next product is a ‘clear loser’

Apparently, CNBC’s Jim Cramer is a now a prophet as well as an analyst.

“Let’s just call it as it is,” he said today on CNBC, “there has not been a single piece of good news about Apple for 300 points, and today is just another day when the news is just horrendous.”

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He’s either referring to Apple’s apology to China or to the fact that Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock today.

But not only has Cramer not seen any good news from Apple for months, he’s also predicting that the company’s next product, due in September, “is a clear loser,” as he seems to believe that Apple is incapable of pulling out of a “tailspin.”

That’s a fairly remarkable statement, even from Cramer. He is, of course, the financial analyst who predicted two years ago that an “overpriced” LinkedIn IPO would “destroy everyone,” so he is not unknown for hyperbole and bombast. But predicting the utter failure of a future, unreleased product?

Interesting.

Essentially, what Cramer seems to be saying is that the momentum of the mobile markets has swung so far in favor of Apple competitors Google and Samsung that Apple will not be able to reverse it, no matter what devices they bring out: new iPhones, new iPads, a new iWatch, or even other unexpected products. That’s essentially a platform call, saying that Android is winning and iOS is losing.

Of course, if that’s true, and if Apple misses on its next quarterly numbers — as Cramer expects — CEO Tim Cook’s job security could be in doubt.

Cramer did temper his comments at the end of the show by backpedaling a little, saying that Apple still has a strong installed base and that if it releases a new wow product, it would still matter. Of course, that came after some theater in which he somewhat incoherently complained that Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs:

Now, you feel that if Cook were to do one of these big shows and come out and say we are about to announce maybe the most disappointing product we’ve ever had since the Lisa … this is the Lisa 2 and nobody likes it and I don’t know why we’re doing and it’s all yours, America and China.

And we apologize that it’s so bad.

We’ll see Apple’s quarterly results in three weeks. Meanwhile, the stock is up almost $8 today:

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