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While other firms (I, II) are lowering their iPhone and regular iPad forecasts, NPD claims Apple...
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Friday, December 14, 2012, 2:42 PM ETWhile other firms (I, II) are lowering their iPhone and regular iPad forecasts, NPD claims Apple (AAPL -3.7%) has more than doubled its iPad Mini display panel orders to 12M+ (presumably to AUO and LPL) to meet strong demand. Moreover, NPD thinks the Mini could account for half of 2013 iPad shipments, which it pegs at 100M+. The difference between the Mini's size (0.68 lbs. and 0.28" thick) and the 4th-gen iPad's (1.44 lbs. and 0.37") is hard to ignore here. Separately, Digitimes reports Apple is working on a second-gen Mini that's lighter still, and will sport a better display.
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This news story has 39 comments:
I just had an idea: I'm going to write an SA article on my new theory of Apple, and I hope it will be entitled, "Snowstorm Signals Apocalypse for Apple." I'll focus on events of nature that predict Apple price declines and the destruction of the Apple cloud. The Bulls will appear in the article as Mr. Heat Miser. The Bears will appear in the article as Mr. Snow Miser. I'm not sure who will appear as Mother Nature. Perhaps Helen Mirren or Charlize Theron.
I just spent $100 on iTunes gift cards for relatives who wanted them. I really should warn my relatives that they should use the cards immediately because of the coming Apocalypse.
Bah Humbug.
I suspect the margin on mini is also higher than retina iPads.
I would love to hear it.
People don't discount things in which demand exceeds supply.
http://bit.ly/U0VWN7
High end, high price, high margin products, discounted at WMT
LOL
detail your shrink for me.
if it drives traffic to the store, doesn't it also seem that a realtionship / customer has been created? What's the margin on apps or tunes? What if the customer likes the experience and buys .... more. Speakers, headphones, who knows what.
right now i walk thru a mall at Xmas and a couple of people outside the starbux have ipads going while they sit and drink coffee. They're even over 50. I suggest to you in the few years as you cruise by the starbux the ipad / mini will proliferate. SALESPEOPLE will carry them, and they will become a standard to EXIST. I don't recall the hockey stick graph of computer acceptance but this is going to make that look tame and apple has a way to make money at it while others are groveling.
There are strategic concerns as well, as noted by Ed's P & SurfRat, which ultimately boil down to defending future avenues to further profitability.
I put my money on Apple earning more money in 2013 than in 2012. Ask yourself if you're comfortable with taking the opposite side of that.
As a side note, this sharp share price drop is great news for Apple. Think of the additional mileage their share buy back program is getting due to this extraordinarily fortuitous and undeserved drop!
Let the good times roll.
I hear SOME of it .... but would suggest it is a long way from commoditization. The apps store / closed system is a two edge sword. But EVERY time they create a new customer they can ring the bell at a premium that keeps on giving. I was bearish on AOL years before its demise for some of the same reasons you dislike Apple. The difference I see is Apple has a reason to keep you in the paying cycle much longer. < it was always my view AOL should have aggregated their customer numbers and driven DISCOUNTS toward NYT and WSJ, stores, ... hell they could have BEEN groupon. EPIC FAIL. >
While people focus on Apple for the cash flow, I focus on Apple for the innovation. But lately they have not been innovating. They have been tinkering and cheapening products like the iPad mini.
That's what worries me. They need a new killer product and then I will become bullish again. Till then, earnings from cash cows don't impress me.