“Most Apple Inc. analysts agree that 2018 will be all about the iPhone X for Apple, but some investors are already growing concerned about where the company will turn next to sustain its long-term growth,” Wayne Duggan reports for U.S. News and World Report. “According to Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, Apple could unlock major upside in its stock if it simply opts to transition to a subscription-based sales model.”
“Sacconaghi says the timing has never been better for Apple to follow in the footsteps of Netflix, Spotify and Microsoft Corp. and push to transition its electronic personal device market to a subscription model,” Duggan reports. “‘Customers could lease iPhones, iPads, Macs, and services such as iCloud and Apple Music for one ‘low’ monthly fee, and have their hardware upgraded after a certain number of years,’ Sacconaghi says, according to CNBC.”
“But even if Apple doesn’t pull the trigger on a subscription model, Sacconaghi says the company is well-positioned heading into 2018,” Duggan reports. “Apple could potentially benefit more than any other U.S. company from corporate tax reform. Bernstein estimates Apple could get an immediate 18 percent boost to its earnings per share should the current Republican tax plan be implemented. Apple has $252 billion in cash overseas and could save more than $47 billion in taxes on that cash if it chooses to bring it back into the U.S. at a 14.5 percent rate during the proposed repatriation holiday.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We sold our iPhone 7 Plus units (which we bought outright last year) for a pretty penny (which we then invested in our new iPhone X units). These monthly lease prices to which Sacconaghi refers had better be rather low vs. buy/use for a year/resell model that works so well for us.