AAPL downgraded after iPhone 5c&s announcement.
I don't understand Wall Street - I think that's a good thing.
Apple released a device that is crazy faster than the previous generation. They are available at launch in China & Japan. Added a major carrier in Japan. And are positioned to add China Mobile that has 740 million subscribers - a subscriber base larger than the population of the USA!
But yeah, they should be downgraded because...
"We downgrade to Neutral on (1) lack of a “lower-end” iPhone and price points that will be too high to increase penetration in emerging markets (2) no China Mobile agreement, (3) a likely less than expected impact from China Mobile, when/if a partnership is announced — higher than expected pricing, no lower-end iPhone, (4) another “evolutionary but not revolutionary” iPhone product launch, and (5) risk to near term gross margin estimates, given typical lower gross margin on new iPhones (in this case both 5C and 5S, as opposed to only one new launch). On a positive note, the company did add NTT DOCOMO."
"In aggregate, we remain disappointed with Apple’s decision to remain a premium priced smartphone vendor, and this continues to competitively expose the company and limits its TAM and growth."
Umm... Apple has made its enormous fortune being a "premium priced" company. And the iPhone 4 is now free on contract, so they do have a low-priced option.
If I were a cynical conspiracy theorist, I'd say these analysts are trying to intentionally drive the price down.
- Jasen.
Comments
In developed markets, the 5c will merely cannibalize the 5s' sales. This is why AAPL is down...
Analysts are analysts because they don't know enough to actually RUN a business.
Tim C. seems to be fairly adept at running his business and I doubt he cares much what "analysts" say...
It's likely that he judges the success of his business by how profitable it is. (And it's second only to the oil industry in profitability.)