Not only does Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster see Apple’s and its investors’ financial outlook as essentially rosy for the foreseeable future, but he’s taking it one step further. He’s convinced that he has at least ten reasons to stay bullish on Apple stock over the next three years. He also thinks the stock price is going to hit $1000 per share.
Forbes reports that Munster expects to see what he calls meaningful updates to the iPhone and Mac, as well as a new TV to be shipped in 2013. He mentions retina-enabled Macs and Ivy Bridge processors as well as a smaller iPad coming in early 2013.
Munster also expects that the iPhone 5 will be “the biggest consumer electronics launch of 2012,” as well a massive upgrade cycle by consumers. He plans on seeing a new, “completely redesigned” body style for the iPhone, going further to even state that the back may actually be more like the “metallic rear panel of the current iPad.” Munster sides with caution on size, though, saying that he feels that there’s a 60 percent chance the screen will be four inches or larger.
Forbes also relates Munster’s TV thoughts, with the analyst expecting a shipping product as soon as December of 2013, with a possible price tag in the $1,500 to $2,000 range. He believes the screen will be somewhere around the 42 to 55 inch range, too. He’s a fan of the iPhone/iPad remote control idea, and also votes for the Siri theory. His prediction? That Apple will capture 10 percent of the television market within three years of launch.
The analyst continues his reasoning with a prediction that phone subsidies are likely to continue, that Apple will b able to keep their gross margins high for many years to come, and that China–already a large part of current Apple strategy–will play a larger part in the years to come. In addition, Munster points out that Apple has created and dominates the wave of post-PC and tablet computing, and believes that Apple will continue to maintain its market share lead while tablet sales also overtake PC sales by 2020.
These points run the gamut of speculative to fairly obvious, but it’s lovely to be living in a time that contrasts so vividly with a few decades ago, when Apple was the underdog. As for the $1000 per share (currently at $565.32 as of last Thursday) prediction? I wish I hung on to that Apple stock I bought in the late 1990s.
Source: Forbes
Image: Business Week
