Apple Computer (AAPL) rose in pre-market action after Merrill Lynch lifted its price target on the stock to $102 from $85. Apple hit a high of $86.56 and is currently trading around $86.26 in pre-market trading.
“Merrill Lynch raised its 12-month target price on Apple Computer to $102 from $85 per share on the possible announcement of a partnership with Sony. The broker told clients it thinks that Apple could introduce products based on the Cell processor made by IBM, Sony and Toshiba. According to Merrill, the partnership could take the form of an iTunes-like iMovies store online, a high-performance Apple workstation using Cell for video editing, or a network-centric television with computing for handling the next generation of entertainment feeds. Such offerings, which the broker said were based on conjectures, ‘would put Apple at the heart of the high-definition and digital consumer revolution and provide grist for further earnings increases and stock price appreciation,'” Aude Lagorce reports for CBS MarketWatch.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If Apple goes with Cell and Cell turns out to really be what it’s claimed to be, then the teetering Wintel hegemony (Windows+Intel or AMD) is about to take a very, very serious hit. Is Steve Jobs about to knock the status quo upside down once again?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Is Microsoft dying? – February 11, 2005
Intel has no answer to the ‘Cell’ processor; will Apple use it in Macs? – February 09, 2005
Will Apple use the ‘Cell’ processor in Macs? – February 09, 2005
Will Apple take advantage of powerful new ‘Cell’ microprocessors? – February 07, 2005