“Apple’s WWDC keynote went largely as expected, as the company announced iOS 7, iTunes Radio, and a new MacBook Air. Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of they keynote address, however, were the 575 million credit cards Apple has information on,” Chris Ciaccia writes for TheStreet.
“During the keynote address, CEO Tim Cook mentioned Apple has information on 575 million credit cards in its system, via iTunes and the App Store. That’s more than any other online retailer, and payments could be the next big area where Apple disrupts,” Ciaccia writes. “Apple having access to 575 million active accounts is significantly more than I wrote about just over a month ago, when I mentioned that Apple’s next big hit product could be payments.”
Ciaccia writes, “The 575 million account figure is also tracking higher than what Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty pegs for year end (she puts the number at 600 million), noting it’s ‘the largest credit-card linked account base making it an obvious payments platform over time.’ She rates Apple ‘buy’ with a $540 price target… Perhaps we’ll find out if payments are indeed the next big thing for Apple once the next iPhone and iPad are released, and if Apple has ‘one more thing’ waiting.”
Read more in the full article here.
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