December 7th, 2006
What next for Apple?
PiperJaffray, the middle market investment bank and institutional securities firm, issued a company note on Apple Computers, Inc. on December 5th which paints a very positive outlook for the company.
It expects Apple shares to outperform the broader market over the next 12 months. The reports rates the only risks to Apple being related to the fact that the company is highly dependent on spending trends in the education, consumer, and creative markets.
The report also goes on to speculate which products rumored to be in the Apple pipeline are likely over the next 2 to 6 months, 6 to 12 months and 12 to 18 months. It looks at a number of product rumors and ranks them according to certainty. It makes interesting reading.
Almost certain (in the next 2 - 6 months):
- iPhone (certainty: 10/10)
- iTV (certainty: 10/10)
Likely (in the next 6 - 12 months):
- Candy bar form factor iPhone (certainty: 9/10)
- Widescreen iPod (certainty: 7/10)
- iPhone with integrated keyboard (certainty: 7/10)
- iSight camera (certainty: 6/10)
- 4GB/8GB storage on iPhone (certainty: 6/10)
- Multiple carrier iPhone (certainty: 6/10)
A stretch (possible in the next 12 - 18 months)
- Ultra portable 12" MacBook Pro (certainty: 4/10)
- Radio-transparent material for iPhone (certainty: 3/10)
- iChat Mobile video/IM (certainty: 2/10)
- OSX 10.5 Leopard release at Macworld (certainty: 3/10)
So, what's your take on this? What's likely and what's not so likely? What's going to be hot and what's not? My prediction is that the report isn't all that far off, but I think that the iPhone will be multi-carrier straight away and that the ultra-portable 12" MacBook Pro is more likely than the 4/10 which the report predicts. I also think that now Toshiba have announced a new 100GB 1.8inch drive that there will be 100GB iPods soon too.
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Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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