Analyst: Apple Earnings Would Be Much Improved by Mac Netbook
by John Paczkowski
Posted on November 17, 2008 at 11:04 AM PT
So that “mother of all earnings blowouts” Apple bulls are expecting? It may turn out to be a different sort of mother entirely. In a research note issued this morning, Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes “adjusted” his estimates for Apple (AAPL) to account for handset and other “realities.” Understandably, premium products are under quite a bit of pressure these days. “Given industry-wide handset weakness & negative commentary from Apple partners, Intel and Best Buy, we are cutting estimates, including lower iPhones and Macs, given premium products seem to be under more pressure,” Reitzes wrote in a research note. “We recently lowered our global PC forecast. Right after that Intel and Best Buy both sounded off warnings around consumer electronics demand. We believe that high-end electronics is under pressure and Apple’s Macs fit into that category.”
And with that, Barclays lowered its estimate for Apple from $121 to $113. Another cautionary report in a parade of them, but one tempered by a bullish note from investment bank Piper Jaffray.
One last point worth noting here. Reitzes’s report includes prominent mention of an Apple netbook. “In our PC forecast we also discussed how low-end netbook PCs ($300-$500) could actually have upside due to a ‘trade-down’ effect with up to 40mm in unit sales possible for this category in 2009 (our views are above consensus for netbooks),” Reitzes wrote. “However, Apple doesn’t participate in this category, with all of its laptops selling for $999 or well above.” He concludes that it makes sense for Apple to enter this market with a high-end touchscreen device that would retail for at least $600. “We envision a product like this to come from Apple in the September 2009 quarter or later (perhaps FY10).”
Here’s hoping….
[Image Credit: Mickphoto/Flickr]
Comments
Last quarter, Ben Reitzes had one of the worst estimates in the business regarding the iPhone. Why do you give total credibility to an analyst who wasn’t accurate in the past? These articles should include the track record of the analyst who is being featured.
Posted by neal doughty at November 17th, 2008 at 12:38 pmIf Apple does this, they’ll probably price it way too high like the rest of their hardware.
What I really want is a 9″ or higher screen touchbook netbook. Gigabyte already has one on the market. It’s already there and just not widely sold yet, or it’s about to come out. I couldn’t figure it out from googling around. The Gigabyte device is the M912.
I think I’m gonna wait a little while longer though. The M912 has a couple of faults like the keyboard isn’t quite big enough for touch typing, despite the fact that other devices with similar sized screens do have keyboards big enough for that.
The $600 device is probably that this guy is encouraging is probably a 4″ or 5″ device like the Nokia N810 or the Gigabyte M528. If Apple did a 9″, it’d probably be over $1K. Too rich for my blood.
I’m surprised these touchscreen netbooks haven’t received more attention on AllThingsD. I’m convinced the Gigabyte M912 is the form factor for laptops for the next 10 years.
I hate having to sit on the couch with a current day laptop. You have to sit with a posture to accomodate the laptop. It would be so much nicer to sprawl any way you wanted with a touch screen netbook.
Posted by Levander Thomas at November 17th, 2008 at 12:49 pmDoes the so called analyst visit an Apple store, I do at least once a week these days and they are generally full.
Posted by Al Sarasota at November 17th, 2008 at 12:52 pmTheir earnings could also be helped by lowering the price of their bottom of the line laptop by a couple of hundred dollars. My wife and I would have bought two instead of one had the price been a bit more reasonable. instead we bought a macbook and a sony pc.
Communication Topics
Posted by Stephen Pickens at November 20th, 2008 at 12:02 pm