UBS: Apple iPhone gaining share of high end growth; up to 20% of Samsung users considering iPhone upgrade
“UBS’s Steve Milunovich reiterates a Buy rating and a $150 price target, after raising his estimate for Apple’s fiscal 2016 iPhone sales by 10 million units, to 225 million units, causing him to revise up his profit estimate for fiscal ’16 to $10.31 per share from $10.01,” Tiernan Ray reports for Barron’s. “That’s only 5% unit growth, he notes, which might be a disappointment after potential growth of 25% this year, but then, any growth after a big iPhone 6 cycle is good thing, he asserts.”
Ray reports, “Among Milunovich’s chief assumptions are that Apple is going to gain market share against Samsung Electronics and others in the high end of the smartphone market: ‘Apple will gain 5-10 points of high-end market share. After a difficult 2013 when the Samsung Galaxy S3/4 were hot, Apple has recovered momentum with its high-end share over 50% now. Up to 20% of Samsung users are considering switching to Apple, according to the UBS Evidence Lab Survey.'”
Ray reports, “More surprising, perhaps, is that Milunovich asserts the high end of the market is growing faster than the low end, citing data from Gartner: ‘Gartner unit sales statistics indicate that premium smartphone adoption (roughly over $250) is highest in North America, Western Europe, and especially in Japan, where Apple has maintained dominant share for some time. Basic (low-end) device growth has slowed to single digits with higher-end devices driving overall smartphone growth, which is good for Apple.'”
An iPhone with a larger screen option will hurt Samsung immeasurably more than myriad, unending traipses through the legal morass. – MacDailyNews Take, May 2, 2014
