A Real Concern For Apple’s Stock: Telecom Carriers Threaten to Kill Subsidies on Phones

Apple's (AAPL) stock has pulled back sharply in recent weeks, falling ~10% from a high of $645 to $570.
This is in part due to the spectacular moonshot the stock enjoyed during the fall and winter, when it blasted from $400 to nearly $650. Apple's stock has often sold off after moves like this, and the current pullback may be just more of that behavior.
But, still, a change in trend like Apple's may indicate a fundamental concern. And these fundamental problems often start small and grow in importance over time, dragging the stock down with them.
So it's worth thinking about what investors might be worried about.
There are still a couple of catalysts that could drive Apple's stock higher this year, namely the launch of the iPhone 5 and the expected debut of the full-fledged Apple TV in the fall. But analysts have begun backing away from the expected launch date of the TV in recent weeks, which may be having some impact.
And there's the broader and more profound concern that, by 2013, Apple's new products will no longer benefit from the firsthand influence of Steve Jobs. Steve worked right up until he died last year, and he likely had a significant influence on this year's product releases. Next year, that won't be the case, and Apple's team will have to demonstrate that it can create the same product magic without Steve.
Both of those are real concerns, but a more immediate one may be this: A concerted effort among some of the world's telecom carriers to reduce the level of handset subsidies that they're giving consumers.