Love it or hate it, Apple’s newly-unveiled iOS 7 will breathe new life into the aging iPhone, argued one analyst late Monday. Unlike hardware changes which have a short lifetime in terms of public curiosity, phone software updates are mesmerizing.
In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster writes that the changes within iOS 7 will spark renewed interest in the iPhone, which some felt was being overshadowed by its Android rivals, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4… Read More
We’ve chided Piper Jaffray’s well-known resident Apple analyst Gene Munster for his repeated predictions of a standalone Apple television set being just around the corner. However, this time we’re giving Munster credit for trying to deflate the hype balloon which has taken Apple stock and consumers for a ride fueled by unreal expectations. The analyst is just the latest Wall Street figure hoping to inject reality into a belief that the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker was immune to the vagaries of mortal businesses – such as down periods.
In a note to his clients, Munster walked a fine line, laying out some uncomfortable numbers for a company that hasn’t reported negative figures in a decade. Along the way, he also tested the waters of delayed gratification during a time investors appear more like strung-out addicts accustom to quarter after quarter of mind-blowing revenue from Apple… Read More
After meeting with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer recently, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty issued a report proclaiming so-called budget iPhone a no-brainer. Huberty joins what is now a growing list of analysts calling for such a device so Apple could better target emerging markets where cash-strapped folks mostly buy unlocked sub-$200 handsets – unlike the United States where carriers subsidize smartphones handsomely.
Thanks to these generous subsidies, US consumers don’t pay full price for the hardware – provided they agree to a long-term service agreement, of course. Now, with the penetration level for the iPhone approaching a limit in the high-end segment, the untapped low-end represents an estimated $135 billion opportunity.
Even with Apple’s margins peaking, an iPhone mini – as the media dubbed it – should triple Apple’s addressable market in China and add nearly $2.4 billion to its handset business… Read More
There are currently 3 or 4 strong rumors floating around the Apple-centric blogosphere these days: the iTV, the more recently popular iWatch, and then the recurring low-cost or ‘budget’ iPhone. What’s funny is, some of these rumors have been around for years.
But if you ask The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, or anyone at Piper Jaffray, the budget iPhone will finally materialize this year. Reiterating its report from January, the firm sent out a note to investors claiming that a low-cost iPhone is on the way… Read More
You gotta give it to Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, arguably for years the most vocal proponent of a full-fledged Apple television set. Speaking to Bloomberg today, Munster re-iterated his belief Apple is working on releasing a standalone television set in 2013. His thinking is apparently based in checks with Apple’s suppliers and he also sees the Cupertino firm shipping an intelligent remote that, in his mind, should be an important part of the rumored iTV… Read More
What can be divined from AT&T’s announcement of record smartphone sales during the holiday quarter? According to one Apple watcher, the fact that the Dallas-based carrier sold ten million Apple, Android and Windows smartphones likely means the bulk – more than eight million – were iPhones. According to Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, during the holiday quarter of 2011, the wireless company sold 9.4 million smartphones, 7.6 million of which were Apple’s handset. Because of that trend, Munster is forecasting 8.1 million iPhones were sold during the fourth quarter of 2012… Read More
If you are just shaking off the holiday headaches, just think of Apple. After taking a drubbing from Wall Street analysts worried about everything from the fiscal cliff to too few (or too many) sales of iDevices, the iPhone maker woke up this morning to its stock actually up. After rising 4 percent in early morning trading, AAPL shares remain positive. Why the better performance, after being jostled around like a visitor to Time Square on New Year’s Eve? Apparently, it has to do with next week’s CES and talk that Apple could create an iWatch… Read More
All of the concerns voiced about the impending leap off the ‘fiscal cliff’ and its associated increase in capital gains taxes on stock sales have sent Wall Street into a tizzy. The end result: knocking Apple’s target share price down to $740. Nearly a dozen analysts have cut their target price for Apple stock amid talk that the iPhone maker has a dodgy future, what with supply questions hanging over the executives at One Infinity Loop. Despite all the rain clouds, the $740 per share target price reduction is about $225 more than Friday’s opening on Wall Street… Read More
Siri, what happened to Google? The voice-activated personal assistant (which debuted alongside the iPhone 4S last October) and the Internet giant aren’t as close as before. Apple’s digital secretary is fast becoming a stranger to Google as one Apple watcher says Siri’s reliance on Google has been cut in half since iOS 6.
While 60 percent of Siri queries sent iPhone owners using iOS 5 to Google data, iOS 6 reduced the percentage to 30 percent. Apparently, Google Maps took the heaviest hit as Apple Maps became the destination for 24 percent of Siri’s answers, up from zero percent in iOS 5. Siri – now competing with Google’s own voice assistant – is also a wee bit more accurate… Read More
After getting off to a shaky start, more than half of consumers shopping for a smartphone plan to buy an iPhone 5, according to a new Wall Street survey. Likewise, Twitter chatter indicates a growing number of Internet users hope to find Apple’s new handset under the Christmas tree.
Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster told investors Thursday that 53.3 percent of a group polled Wednesday said they plan to purchase the iPhone 5 over the next month. That number is just slightly below the 54.9 percent found in mid-October, following the new smartphone’s launch… Read More
As we enter the last weeks of December, Wall Street analysts are adjusting their forecasts for Apple and its keystone products, the iPhone and iPad.
Sterne Agee’s Shaw Wu Wednesday told investors increased supplies of the iPhone 5 likely means more sales, while tablet buyers are shifting toward the iPad mini, resulting in slightly fewer sales overall.
After talks with supply chain sources, Wu expects Apple to sell this quarter 47.5 million of the new handsets, up from his earlier projected 47.3 million units. As for iPads, the analyst trimmed his sales forecast to 23.5 million, down from 25 million. In both cases, supply was the critical factor… Read More
Wall Street investors are among those intensely interested in Apple CEO Tim Cook’s remark that the iPad maker has “intense interest” in doing something about television. One observer believes Apple wants its logo on the king of the hill, top of the heap when it comes to consumer electronics: the television set. The company has never been one to work around the edges of an industry.
That’s why a Wells Fargo Securities analyst expects Apple to forgo a predicted set-top box and instead go for a full-blown Apple TV, calling it the “centerpiece of the living room”… Read More
Reports that an Apple TV product is in the works have resurfaced a number of times over the past few years. Analysts continue to believe that Apple has something bigger planned for the living room than its current $99 hobby.
Perhaps nobody believes this more than Piper Jaffray’s senior Apple analyst Gene Munster. And he was recently seen at Business Insider’s IGNITION conference in New York talking about Apple’s plans for the TV and more… Read More
While Black Friday discounts abound at Apple and around the web, one product where deals are absent is Apple’s iPad mini. The reason: people want to buy the smaller iPad deal or no deal, one analyst opines. According to Wells Fargo’s Maynard Um, “early checks suggest demand continues to be robust with strong store traffic through the week and early Friday”. That ship times remain two weeks for both the Wi-Fi and Cellular models points to the iPad mini becoming a must-have holiday item (kids agree)… Read More
Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster – you know, one of the iTV fame - is back at it predicting Apple’s gonna launch an inexpensive iPhone model in two years time. Recognizing Apple’s tiny market share in emerging markets like Russia, India, Brazil and China (collectively referred to as BRIC territories), he’s calling for an unsubsidized, sub-$200 iPhone around 2014. Currently, Apple’s handset is a high-end play, with older models selling at reduced price points.
As carriers pay big bucks to subsidy its high cost, users typically must sign on a dotted line. But not everyone is willing to accept contractual commitment in exchange for an iPhone. Meanwhile, competitors are successfully exploiting Apple’s price weaknesses, churning out Android cheapos that have pushed the platform in places like China to as much as an astounding 90 percent smartphone share… Read More
There is at least a 7-in-10 chance that you can now find an iPhone 5 on store shelves, according to one analyst Wednesday. The once-elusive smartphone may soon be available for same-day purchase from Apple Stores, the Wall Street observer told investors. The report by Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster (I know, don’t start) follows news that iPhone 5 units ordered through Apple’s website have a two-week shipping delay, down from as much as three weeks. His comments echo those by fellow Apple watcher Shawn Wu of Sterne Agee, who described the wider availability of the iPhone 5 as “much improved”… Read More
Like the left-over turkey that just won’t disappear from the fridge, talk of a full-blown, Apple-branded HD television set – the mythical iTV – lingers on in the minds of Wall Street seers. The product could carry a price of $1,500 and $2,000 and be introduced in time for Christmas 2013, one analyst forecast Tuesday. The shiny television product launch would highlight a long list of new products for Apple fans of all stripes.
Although Apple’s goal of offering à la carte TV programming is viewed as “unlikely,” some of the features made popular on the iPhone and iPad could be headed to a big-screen TV set spanning between 42 and 55 inches, according to perhaps the most vocal iTV proponent out there, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray… Read More
After Foxconn admitted to falling behind iPhone 5 orders, it seems that supply of Apple’s popular handset is finally catching up with demand. That’s the word from one veteran Apple watcher who told investors Friday that inventory of the smartphone at Apple’s brick-and-mortar stores are at their highest level yet. For the first time, availability of iPhone 5 models for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint customers topped 20 percent.
The iPhone 5 version for Sprint remains the most available, with 84 percent of Apple Stores reporting inventory for that model. The AT&T version followed with 54 percent and Verizon with 24 percent, according to a Wall Street survey conducted by Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster… Read More
A few interesting observations from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster’s note to clients (via Fortune), issued this morning. Munster conducted his annual cell phone survey and found out that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of polled respondents would pick an iPhone as their next handset. Only one in five (19 percent) plan to go with Android and just 2.5 percent, or one in forty, will stay loyal to their BlackBerry, a result of RIM’s downturn.
What’s more, 51 percent of respondents who planned on making the iPhone their next smartphone (whether current iPhone users or not) said they were waiting for the next iPhone… Read More
