Piper: Expect iTunes cloud, not music subscriptions, from Apple
Apple will likely announce a cloud-based iTunes streaming service on Tuesday, but will not offer an all-you-can-eat music subscription plan, investment firm Piper Jaffray has predicted.
Analyst Gene Munster issued a note to investors Monday after Apple teased on its website that it would have an "exciting announcement" on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. He said it's "probable" that Apple will announce a cloud-based iTunes service that would allow content streaming to Internet-connected devices.
"Apple is developing a data center in Maiden, N.C. that we believe could serve as the hub for such a service," he wrote. "The company has indicated that the data center is on track to be completed by the end of (calendar year 2010) and it will begin using it by then."
Munster is not, however, convinced that Apple will announce a music subscription service this week. The company has been rumored for years to be interested in such a service for iTunes, and even as recently as October was said to be in negotiations with record labels to offer unlimited access for a monthly fee.
The announcement on Tuesday, he said, represents a buying opportunity for investors. Piper Jaffray has a $431 price target and overweight rating for AAPL stock
"With Apple's growing family of connected devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Macs), it only makes sense that Apple would deliver a cloud-based media service to leverage its competitive advantage in the space: devices," Munster said. "As part of this, the new Apple TV with limited storage, a lower price, and a focus on accessing content over the Internet would fit in nicely."
The analyst also reiterated his longstanding believe that Apple is planning to introduce an Internet-connected television in the next few years. He believes an iTunes cloud-based service is just another step toward that eventual goal.
Analyst Gene Munster issued a note to investors Monday after Apple teased on its website that it would have an "exciting announcement" on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. He said it's "probable" that Apple will announce a cloud-based iTunes service that would allow content streaming to Internet-connected devices.
"Apple is developing a data center in Maiden, N.C. that we believe could serve as the hub for such a service," he wrote. "The company has indicated that the data center is on track to be completed by the end of (calendar year 2010) and it will begin using it by then."
Munster is not, however, convinced that Apple will announce a music subscription service this week. The company has been rumored for years to be interested in such a service for iTunes, and even as recently as October was said to be in negotiations with record labels to offer unlimited access for a monthly fee.
The announcement on Tuesday, he said, represents a buying opportunity for investors. Piper Jaffray has a $431 price target and overweight rating for AAPL stock
"With Apple's growing family of connected devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Macs), it only makes sense that Apple would deliver a cloud-based media service to leverage its competitive advantage in the space: devices," Munster said. "As part of this, the new Apple TV with limited storage, a lower price, and a focus on accessing content over the Internet would fit in nicely."
The analyst also reiterated his longstanding believe that Apple is planning to introduce an Internet-connected television in the next few years. He believes an iTunes cloud-based service is just another step toward that eventual goal.
Comments
Syncing though iTunes for my AppleTV,MBP, iPad, iPhone seems sufficient and I cant think how I would actually use any cloud functionality, certainly not on a regular basis.
Has anyone else figured out viable use cases for a cloud based iTunes?
This is very possible. But I really don't find that nearly as exciting as an all you can eat music service. Apple rarely says things like "Revolutionary" or "You will not forget" unless it will change the market. A cloud service isn't really that exciting or new.
I don't really get the amazingness of a cloud service. Why do I want to stream music from the cloud rather play it directly from my iPhone? I like the idea of a 'cloud inventory' so once I own something I can loose it and then re-download it. There are occasions where streaming may be useful though personally I have never had a need. If they announce a cloud based video / movie content service with a huge inventory, however, I will be very excited.
I am not sure a cloud service is that usefull today. I guess if you have a iPod touch and you have waaaaay more purchased content for it that you can use?
Syncing though iTunes for my AppleTV,MBP, iPad, iPhone seems sufficient and I cant think how I would actually use any cloud functionality, certainly not on a regular basis.
Has anyone else figured out viable use cases for a cloud based iTunes?
Yes!
What if you had 10 gigs of songs on your iPhone and now you can get rid of them 100% because they are on the cloud. That frees up quite a bit of space for apps and would be a big deal. What if you had a bunch of movies on an iTunes cloud service. That would give you access to all your movies in your iTunes library on your iphone/AppleTV where ever you are in the world.
An iTunes cloud service would almost certainly be distributed by a CDN. I highly doubt the NC Data centre would be used for that, it will most likely be used to offer Mobile Me for free to all registered iOS users.
MobileMe and future iterations of iWork. Free? That would be nice.
The analyst also reiterated his longstanding believe that Apple is planning to introduce an Internet-connected television in the next few years. .
Not a chance.. Do people still not understand that Apple doesn't enter into mature markets? Connectivity to televisions (Apple TV) = Yes.. Televisions themselves =NO.
Not a chance.. Do people still not understand that Apple doesn't enter into mature markets? Connectivity to televisions (Apple TV) = Yes.. Televisions themselves =NO.
ever hear of an iPhone?
Has anyone else figured out viable use cases for a cloud based iTunes?
Case 1:
I'm pretty sure that if I download a song to my iPhone, from Shazam, it is not available on my computer until I sync it back. And if I try to download the song on my iPad, without syncing the iPad to the synced iTunes, I have to buy the song again.
This is not true for apps though. If i buy an app from my iPhone, I can download it on my iPad without syncing and without paying for it again.
Case 2:
If I want to play music that I have purchased on my computer on my Apple TV, I have to have the computer on so that the Apple TV can stream it from my computer. Why not just stream it direct from iTunes so that I can put my computer to sleep and save power?
ever hear of an iPhone?
Last i checked an iPhone wasn't considered a television.
The music industry is dead anyway.
http://blog.cocoia.com/2010/updates/
Cloud service here we come I think.
I already have Pandora.. and it's free.. and on my iPhone.. done deal.
The music industry is dead anyway.
Apple's sold billions and billions of songs in the past few years.. So i'd have to respectfully disagree with your analysis..
Last i checked an iPhone wasn't considered a television.
It is not a television, but you stated, "Do people still not understand that Apple doesn't enter into mature markets?"
...the cell phone market was a mature market when Apple introduced the iPhone. Thus Apple DOES enter mature markets. Thanks and have a wonderful day.
Last i checked an iPhone wasn't considered a television.
Yeah, it is a cell phone. I've heard of those before. Last I checked, it was a pretty mature market before Apple entered it. But I'm sure you'll say, iPhone started the modern smartphone market, which in my reply I say, then Apple television will be a "smart" tv. Kind of like how the current internet tv's are pretty half put together, just like smart phones were before iPhone. I think you've got to realize anything is a possibility with apple. Never say never with them. Jobs is crazy man... crazy.
It is not a television, but you stated, "Do people still not understand that Apple doesn't enter into mature markets?"
...the cell phone market was a mature market when Apple introduced the iPhone. Thus Apple DOES enter mature markets. Thanks and have a wonderful day.
...when the iPhone was introduced in 2007, it was a new type of device.. Sure it had a phone capabilities attached to it, but the iPhone was/is a handheld computer with internet capabilities that didn't exist before it.. The smartphone market wasn't mature then and still isn't mature today.. Most experts agree that Apple almost single-handely defined a new market with the iPhone..
Thanks, You have a good day as well
Has anyone else figured out viable use cases for a cloud based iTunes?
Yeah, Dropbox.
Not to mention all the cloud services we now use for syncing mail, notes, calendars, contacts, and settings.
For cloud services to work it has to be easy to forget about. It has to be part of what you expect from a service, which is why the above services work as well as they do for those that use them.
I think people are trying to expecting too much from what iTunes in the cloud would mean. It doesn?t mean you won?t be storing your content locally. It will not be the end of storage in iDevices. It may not even mean uploading a single song to their servers.
iTunes in the cloud would be most effective for the average user if it reads your library the way iTunes Genius does, and then links your library?s contents to a file they already have on their servers which would allow you to stream to another device that can be accessible by your account. This could mean streaming via iTunes app, or iTunes.com, or an iDevice or an AppleTV. It may only be content you?ve purchased via iTunes Store (perhaps legal issues) or be limited to 128kbps for legal and bandwidth reasons.