Apple may enjoy 50 percent growth for the next two years, fueled largely by the increasing demand for mobile applications. That’s the word of the founder and CEO of a research firm, speaking in a Wednesday interview. Forrester Research’s George Colony also predicted the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant’s revenue will soon pass IBM and HP.
Colony described an “app Internet” where users turn to mobile apps, rather than the Web. Apple is “going to be a $200 billion revenue company,” he predicts in a Bloomberg interview. Already the iPhone, iPod and iPad maker had a market capitalization topping $300 billion by the start of 2011. Analysts expect Apple sales will grow 50 percent to more than $100 billion this fiscal year, ending in September.
The research head forewarned the greater reliance on apps could spell trouble for Internet giant Google. “Google’s business model is completely based on you going to the Web and clicking on a link and seeing an ad impression. In the app Internet world, all of that goes away,” Colony told the interviewer.
He also warned Apple’s growth could be hurt if CEO Steve Jobs, now on medical leave, is no longer drives the company. “That would be a massive, massive hit to the valuation.” Colony said it could be harder for Apple to produce new products that consumers want.
