Apple Inc, already the world’s most valuable company, will see its stock price reach US$1,001 within 12 months, lifted by growth in China and the debut of a new television product, according to Topeka Capital Markets.
The new target, issued on Monday by Topeka’s Brian White, is the highest among the 45 analysts tracked by Bloomberg and represents a 62 percent increase over the current price.
The gains will be fueled by demand for the next iPhone, in addition to the expansion into China and the TV market, he said.
“Apple fever is spreading like a wildfire around the world,” White said in a report, which initiated coverage of the company with a buy recommendation.
Apple will get to US$1,001 by introducing a TV within a year, as well as an upgraded iPhone that works with faster wireless networks, he said.
China Mobile Ltd (中國移動通信), China’s largest wireless network, will start carrying the iPhone within a year, White said, adding millions of new potential customers.
Apple’s stock is also getting a boost because of a relatively seamless transition since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, he said.
The stock has risen more than 60 percent since Jobs died in October last year. Tim Cook had assumed the role of chief executive officer in August last year.
“Steve Jobs’s health was such a fear that was hanging over the stock,” White said in an interview. “Now you’ve seen that Tim Cook is doing a good job.”
Apple’s management should aim to become the first company to generate US$1 trillion in revenue, a goal that’s achievable in the next decade, he said.
Apple had sales of US$108.2 billion in its last fiscal year, which ended in September.
A risk for Apple is the uncertainty over who will make critical decisions about future products, White said. Cook’s experience is with Apple’s supply chain and operations, and less with product development, the area where Jobs excelled.
The stock has already risen 53 percent this year, spurred by soaring iPhone revenue and the debut of a higher-resolution iPad last month. The shares climbed 3.2 percent to US$618.63 on Monday in US trading.
White said Apple could hit his target because its iPhone and Mac computers still have relatively low market share, giving them room to grow. He also foresees Apple introducing iPads with a smaller screen size, letting them compete more directly with tablet computers from Amazon.com Inc and other rivals.
Meanwhile, Apple’s new iPad was named the best tablet computer in a ranking by Consumer Reports, two weeks after the magazine said the device runs “significantly hotter” than previous models.
The new iPad’s high-resolution screen provides the best detail and color accuracy of all tablets Consumer Reports has seen, the publication said on Monday on its Web site. Consumer Reports also commended the device’s camera and faster connectivity. The new iPad costs US$500 to US$830.
“With use of a laptop, evidence suggests that temperature on the bottom of its case of 120 degrees [F, or 48.9°C] risks damage to bare skin with prolonged contact,” Consumer Reports said in a statement. “But we think the same temperature on a tablet is more a potential inconvenience than a concern.”
Consumer Reports ranked the new iPad above other new tablets, including Toshiba Corp’s Excite 10LE, Pantech Co’s Element, Sony Corp’s Tablet P and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is