Apple shares rally as Mac users line up for Boot Camp
Shares of Apple Computer soared nearly 10 percent on Wednesday to close at $67.21 after the company announced a piece of software that will enable users of its new Intel Mac systems to run operating systems from rival Microsoft Corp.
The staggering rise in the company's shares came just 24 hours after analysts at several firms, including UBS, Standard & Poor's, and Lehman, each issued research notes in which they cut their price target on Apple shares.
Of the three firms, Standard & Poor's issued the largest price cut, slashing the Mac maker's target by $15 to $68. At the close of the market on Wednesday, Apple shares were already flirting with the firm's revised target. The gains offset a steady stream of losses that had compounded on Apple shares over the past three weeks.
While some Mac enthusiasts rejoiced as they followed links to Apple's Boot Camp Web page, others were just plain smitten.
"Yes, it is no April's fool," wrote one AppleInsider reader, who was one of the first to make note of Apple's Boot Camp announcement in a post on the AppleInsider Forums. "As a PC user of many years this is the beginning of what it will take to talk me into switching," said another. Indeed, analysts concurred.
In a research note released to clients shortly after Apple's announcement, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu called news of the software a "big deal."
"We believe this is Apple's 30th year anniversary surprise and potentially could be a significant game changer," the analyst told his clients.
Meanwhile, Ben Reitzes, an analyst with UBS Investment Research, said Apple's decision to include Boot Camp with its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, may allow the company to reap significant benefits beginning in its December quarter.
In a message on its Boot Camp Web site, Apple hinted that it may formally roll out the software under a different name when it exits pre-release status.
Apple shares continued to gain ground in after-hours trading, rising an additional 19 cent (or 0.28 percent) to $67.40 on a day when the stock traded at more than double its average volume.
The staggering rise in the company's shares came just 24 hours after analysts at several firms, including UBS, Standard & Poor's, and Lehman, each issued research notes in which they cut their price target on Apple shares.
Of the three firms, Standard & Poor's issued the largest price cut, slashing the Mac maker's target by $15 to $68. At the close of the market on Wednesday, Apple shares were already flirting with the firm's revised target. The gains offset a steady stream of losses that had compounded on Apple shares over the past three weeks.
While some Mac enthusiasts rejoiced as they followed links to Apple's Boot Camp Web page, others were just plain smitten.
"Yes, it is no April's fool," wrote one AppleInsider reader, who was one of the first to make note of Apple's Boot Camp announcement in a post on the AppleInsider Forums. "As a PC user of many years this is the beginning of what it will take to talk me into switching," said another. Indeed, analysts concurred.
In a research note released to clients shortly after Apple's announcement, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu called news of the software a "big deal."
"We believe this is Apple's 30th year anniversary surprise and potentially could be a significant game changer," the analyst told his clients.
Meanwhile, Ben Reitzes, an analyst with UBS Investment Research, said Apple's decision to include Boot Camp with its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, may allow the company to reap significant benefits beginning in its December quarter.
In a message on its Boot Camp Web site, Apple hinted that it may formally roll out the software under a different name when it exits pre-release status.
Apple shares continued to gain ground in after-hours trading, rising an additional 19 cent (or 0.28 percent) to $67.40 on a day when the stock traded at more than double its average volume.
Comments
Originally posted by Ireland
Hey 'Appleinsider' this is great! I own apple!
Just to let you know you have 'Monday' on the top of your column instead of 'Wednesday'.
Eeeek!
How the time flys
Thanks,
K
Say hello to a new era for Apple and the PC as we know it. Windows is about to be Mac OS Xed.
So if you were a potential switcher before, but were, for whatever reason, requiring a specific Windows-only app, this should seal the deal for you!
that would be a great commercial!
btw...if anyone uses that, i accept paypal.
Wanna Quit? Can't do cold turkey? Apple is here to help.
Macs run Windows.
I hope this is an April Fools joke. I would rather not have to look at XP.
Originally posted by Denmaru
Well, I take it with a grain of salt. I'm afraid many developers see another Reason not to support MacOS X, and just tell their Costumers to "just boot Windows" to run it.
Ya? If they told ya to boot Windows and you had a program that would to the same on the Mac, who would get your money?
Boot Camp enables potential switchers to actually switch over to the Mac OS, hence getting more users using Mac OS X, hence more developers wanting to develop for OS X.
The developer who tells you to boot into Windows to run his program will lose money to the one that does make the App OS X able.
Turn your head around.
Originally posted by iPeon
Ya? If they told ya to boot Windows and you had a program that would to the same on the Mac, who would get your money?
Boot Camp enables potential switchers to actually switch over to the Mac OS, hence getting more users using Mac OS X, hence more developers wanting to develop for OS X.
The developer who tells you to boot into Windows to run his program will lose money to the one that does make the App OS X able.
Turn your head around.
I know that I posted this in another thread, but, what if xcode goes truly universal binary? By that I mean write in xcode then click on the 3 boxes and there you go ppc/intel and .exe files pop out.
If leopard supports running .exe natively then all you need is a mac with leopard.
game over MS.
I'm gonna need a fix for that before I standardize on Apple hardware.
Originally posted by rebel_without_a_pc
So I have to hold down that option key every time i want to boot Windows?
I'm gonna need a fix for that before I standardize on Apple hardware.
You can use the Startup Disk Mac OS system preference / Windows control panel to switch between OSes. If you want to select at boot time you need to use the option key, otherwise it will use your previous selection.
Originally posted by TednDi
I know that I posted this in another thread, but, what if xcode goes truly universal binary? By that I mean write in xcode then click on the 3 boxes and there you go ppc/intel and .exe files pop out.
If leopard supports running .exe natively then all you need is a mac with leopard.
game over MS.
I don't think this is too far fetched. It existing back in the NEXT days and I'm sure its still cooking in Apple's labs just like the Intel builds. Using XCode to make Windows apps will be a nice bonus for developers.
In fact if it runs well, perhaps the next version of PhotoShop that is built with XCode will be one such app.
There is no reason that XCode's better model, which dusted CodeWarrior, can't do the same with Wiindows environments. And if Apple can also demo the best Java enviro as well ....
Just make sure XCode only works on a Mac and even M$ coders might buy MacBooks.
I'm also looking forward to what this might all mean for XServs since that is where many businesses may look for upgrade paths.