Analysts at Piper Jaffray have maintained their “outperform” rating on Apple Computer, Inc. (AAPL) along with their target price of $52.
In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company has the potential to enter into a new market by launching a mobile phone of its own with iPod capabilities. The analysts say that 18% of the respondents, in a survey of 200 persons, were interested in Apple Computer’s own phone with iPod’s features. The survey respondents said they would pay $255 for an Apple iPod phone.
iPodNN reports that Piper’s research note stated, “‘We question Apple’s motive to partner with Motorola when they themselves are a hardware manufacturer.’ The firm believes that if the long-term threat to iPods is a phone/MP3 combo device, then ‘Apple should make its own iPod phone (iPhone), turning the threat into an opportunity.’ At this time, the firm is ‘not aware that Apple has plans to come out with an Apple-branded cell phone.’ However, if Apple is already planning such a device, it would likely take at least a year to bring to market, Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster says.”
Full article here.
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