Piper Jaffray remains bullish on Apple, reiterates ‘buy,’ $250 price target
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 10:26 AM EST"In a note to clients on Wednesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster noted that Apple was able to maintain the price of its third-generation iPod shuffle players for over 500 days, more than twice as long as the previous price levels which lasted only about 200 days," Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.
"The price cut (38 percent) on the 1GB model (to $49) and introduction of a 2GB model at $69 will result in the average selling price (ASP) of the shuffle line falling from $67 to $55, Munster estimated. Assuming no change in his shuffle unit estimate for the current March quarter, the analyst believes segment revenue would increase 12 percent year-over-year compared to his current estimate of 15 percent," Marsal reports. "Apple's iPod business should also see help from 'cheaper, innovative iPods with Wi-Fi and multi-touch technology" in the not too distant future."
"These assumptions and others lead the analyst to remain bullish on shares of the Cupertino-based electronics maker, which he rates a Buy with a $250 price target," Marsal reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple's iPod unit sales:
• Q4 03: 336,000
• Q1 04: 733,000 (holiday quarter)
• Q2 04: 807,000
• Q3 04: 860,000
• Q4 04: 2,016,000
• Q1 05: 4,580,000 (holiday quarter)
• Q2 05: 5,311,000
• Q3 05: 6,155,000
• Q4 05: 6,451,000
• Q1 06: 14,043,000 (holiday quarter)
• Q2 06: 8,526,000
• Q3 06: 8,111,000
• Q4 06: 8,729,000
• Q1 07: 21,066,000 (holiday quarter)
• Q2 07: 10,549,000
• Q3 07: 9,815,000 (iPhone: 270,000)
• Q4 07: 10,200,000 (iPhone: 1,119,000)
• Q1 08: 22,121,000 (iPhone: 2,315,000)
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I guess numbers would have gone up more if a 64 or 128 GB iPod Touch was available.