[chalkandpaste]

Apple's stock price remains constant because they are artificially inflating their own stock through increased dividends (more than 10bn per year) and stock buyback (increased to 175bn for this next year). They do this so the major shareholders don't lose their value (or, I'm guess this is so).

Apple is dropping faster than excrement in the bowl.

[1123581321]

Apple's yield is a little over 2%. That's not a high dividend rate. While it's true that a lack of dividends in a mature company can cause some shareholder dissatisfaction, dividends tend to not pay for themselves in increased market capitalization.

There are companies that use large (10% or more) dividend yields to inflate their share price, which lets them dilute their stock at better valuations. Small shipping companies do this. It's a strategy that's long ceased to be possible by the time a company's valued at a billion USD, let alone over half a trillion.