Jefferies: Both ‘iPad mini’ and ‘Apple iTV’ now in production; ups AAPL target price to $900, reiterates ‘Buy’

“Jefferies & Co.’s Peter Misek this morning writes in a note to clients that his ‘checks,’ as well as sales data from Taiwan, indicate that Apple’s ‘iPad Mini,’ as the world has taken to calling it, has ‘gone into production.’ Misek raised his price target on Apple to $900 from $800, while reiterating his Buy rating,” Tiernan Ray reports for Barron’s.

Read more in the full article here.

Eric Savitz reports for Forbes, “Misek also contends that Apple‘s oft-rumored iTV product is now in production, and could show up in stores before year-end.”

“‘Misek also notes that JDSU recently said it has a new non-gaming customer for its gesture control modules, which are also used in Microsoft‘s Kinect system for Xbox 360. JDSU indicated this is a new ‘living room’ based customer. “We believe Apple will leverage AT&T‘s and Verizon’s content deals for the iTV,’ he writes,” Savitz reports. “Misek estimates that Apple will have about 15 million iPhone 5 units built by mid-September, and that the iTV will launch in the December or March quarters. Misek projects that total iPhone builds for the second half of calendar 2012 will be in excess of 80 million units.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]

22 Comments

  1. I’m really really excited by this. Gesture-based social TV viewing!! What does that mean? Simple: If the majority of viewers in a household collectively give a thumbs down (patent pending) gesture, the TV downvotes the program on the social stream and switches to another program. It’s brilliant! Unless you’re Nielsen, of course. The act of downvoting will be called “Ping” and when a friend does so, your AppleTV will make a gentle “Pong” sound. It’s fabulous!

    1. Great ideas, Jim!

      How about “the bird” gesture if something’s really awful. Not only switches channels but also brings up your Netflix queue…

      Maybe the NFL can integrate a million household gestures when one of its replacement zebras makes a terrible call. Instant and irrevocable – to let the call stand or be overturned.

    1. The analyst intimated as such. Really surprising that an established analyst with such visibility would make such claims.

      Time will tell I guess, but I can’t fathom how an actual TV could begin production without some leakage from China.

    2. God, I sure hope so. I am so tired of having to lift my heavy remote control and then struggling to push a button or two. It makes me so tired that I have to lie down after changing channels. Oh Apple, or anyone, lift this burden from us. I cannot wait for the day the TV can read my mind so I do not even have to gesture or move. Get to work on that Apple. Us couch potatoes need less activity.

      1. I have a different real-life problem: I’m far-sighted (20-15) and don’t normally wear my spectacles when hanging around. Trying to read those little icons is enough to drive me crazy. Sure, I know where the volume up/down, the channel selector, and the mute button is, but the “jump” button? The “guide” button? Forget it.

        1. Yes. Soon, my arm will not be long enough to compensate for this problem.

          I prefer voice over gestures, but since I don’t think iTV is actually coming out this year, kind I moot.

  2. S P E C U L A T I V E
    R U M O R
    M O N G E R I N G

    I am so sick of this TechTard shite. No wonder Apple never shares details about unreleased products. I wonder if they have a Laugh-O-Meter at Apple where they can measure the perceived Stupidity Level of these hair-brained rumors.

  3. A smaller form iPad, maybe. I’ve always doubted and still do – the whole TV/iTV speculation. There is no room in that market for a premium product. A juiced up or licensed Apple TV, I suspect is the future of Apple, Inc in the living room.

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