Apple's Value Drops $23bn Over Software Glitch

Almost $23bn (£14bn) has been wiped from the value of tech giant Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , as it releases a second software patch for its troubled iPhone 6.

The drop in market capitalisation on Wall Street came just hours before the tech giant released iOS 8.0.2 on Thursday night.

The company said the patch promised to "fix an issue that affected iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who downloaded 8.0.1" on Wednesday.

Apple also repeated an earlier apology to owners of its newest iPhones who were affected by bugs. Some iPad users had also reported complaints.

Social media was awash with disgruntled users, who complained about a loss of wireless coverage and being locked out by the Touch ID system.

The problems came amid warning from Apple's OS X operating system had a security flaw which could be more serious than the notorious Heartbleed bug .

The have also been complaints from iPhone 6 Plus owners, who said their smartphone had bent substantially after being placed in a tight pocket.

But Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said: "With normal use, a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus."

It said its iPhones feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high-stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry.

More than 10 million of the new devices were sold in the weekend after its launch last Friday and Apple said the bug-ridden release affected less than 40,000 users.

Apple shares closed at $100.75 on Friday after being down 3.81% at $97.87 on Thursday. Over the last week it has lost more than 4% of its value and earlier this month it hit an all-time high of $103.74.

Some analysts believe the decline was more to do with a wider negative tech sector sentiment from investors than Apple dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, rival smartphone makers have taken digs at Apple's troubled product and software launch.

A Samsung advertisement compared a bending phone against one of its own rigid products, and BlackBerry boss John Chen said "I would challenge you guys to bend our [new] Passport".

And confectionery maker Nestle (VTX: NESN.VX - news) tweeted on its Kit-Kat account: "We don't bend, we break."