Here is your daily AAPL (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors report for Nov. 11, 2010.
Report Lays Out Scenario for $500 AAPL Share Price: Investment research company Trefis has, like others throughout the back half of 2010, raised its target price for AAPL shares to $400. Apple shares hit an all-time high on Tuesday when shares spiked to $321.30. The analysis from Trefis breaks down how AAPL’s current business model can reach that lofty $400 goal, as well as the specific scenario that would need to unfold for Apple shares to hit $500, an astronomical share price that The Street believes Apple just might reach.
Two things are essential for Apple shares to reach these milestones. The first is that the iPhone needs another surge in the smartphone market and must end up with a greater market share, bringing its current global share from 4% to 14%. This would lead to Apple shares hitting $400, while a gain of 17% of the smartphone market would help push AAPL shares to $500 under Trefis’ model. The second factor is the iPad, which is widely known to be selling well, but must sell better for Apple shares to grow by 24%. In order for AAPL shares to make it to $400, 12.8 million iPads would need to be sold by the end of the year, with 43.7 million sold in 2011, and 63.3 million in 2012. If Apple could manage to sell 90 million iPads by the end of calendar 2012, the $500 price target would be in range. The heavily rumored jump to multiple mobile carriers in 2011 could help the iPhone reach the goals necessitated by the Trefis model, with a Verizon iPhone alone helping push the device ahead in the United States. The iPad, however, will either need to lower in price or receive a dramatic hardware update by the end of 2011. Apple’s tablet rules a lonely market with only a few competitors like Samsung to take away momentum. The tablet market is going to be far more crowded in the next two years, 24 months that are pivotal for $400 and $500 share price scenarios from Trefis. Investors interested in toying with the Trefis model can find an interactive version at the company’s homepage.
Mac OS X 10.6.5 Releases to the Public Alongside Security Update 2010-007: As rumored earlier this week, the latest update to the Snow Leopard operating system powering AAPL’s desktop and laptop computers is now available to the public for download. The new update improves security and stability in a number of OS X applications, including fixes for image processing in Aperture and iPhoto, stability with games running on OS X, an improved MainStage app, and improved reliability for Bluetooth Braille displays. Not included in the update, however, is support for AirPrint that allows wireless printing from the iPhone and iPad via the upcoming iOS 4.2 update. In a note to users, AAPL CEO Steve Jobs said that AirPrint will in fact be supported when iOS 4.2 goes live later this month.
Japan Gets Apple TV, iTunes Video Rentals This Week: iTunes users in the Land of the Rising Sun now have the ability to buy or rent more than 1,000 movies from the online shopping service, with titles from major Japanese studios like Toei Co. and Fuji TV. The new rental service has coincided with the Japanese launch of the redesigned Apple TV as well as the announcement that Apple’s mobile advertising platform iAd will launch in the country in early 2011. The surge of new services and products in Japan comes on the heels of a strong year for Apple. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Apple that Tokyo-based group MM Research Institute has determined that Apple now controls a 72% market share of the Japanese smartphone market. The improved iTunes service and introduction of iAd should help strengthen AAPL’s business in the country.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
