Apple seen doubling or even tripling market share of iPhone & Mac
Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee said in a note to investors on Wednesday that Apple's adoption story includes "plenty of headroom for growth" in the coming years, in both the consumer and enterprise markets. He noted that Apple's iPhone has only 4 percent to 5 percent share of all mobile phones, and the Mac owns a similar share of total PC sales.
"We believe AAPL has opportunity to double or potentially even triple its market share in these end markets over the next few years, particularly with Greater China and international as underpenetrated opportunities," Wu said.
"We think the beauty with the AAPL platform story is the company doesn't need to win over everyone to continue success. The company just needs to continue winning a fair share of its vast end markets as more users get the AAPL advantage of 'it just works better.'"
Wu believes that Apple could be the best-positioned technology company to take advantage of what he sees as three "secular mega trends" that will drive technology in the next decade. They are:
- The mobile Internet
- Cloud computing
- The consumerization of technology
Apple in particular will be driven by what Wu sees as a strong product cycle in the second half of 2011, including the recently launched Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and the soon-to-debut iOS 5 for iPad and iPhone, set for release this fall. Apple has also refreshed most of its Mac lineup this year, including the new MacBook Airs released last month with high-speed Thunderbolt ports.
Wu also reiterated his belief that Apple's anticipated fifth-generation iPhone could be a "bigger upgrade than expected." Citing industry sources, he indicated again on Wednesday that a so-called "iPhone 5" is expected to include dual-core processors, better cameras, a bigger screen, and a thinner form factor.
Sterne Agee has maintained its "buy" rating for AAPL stock, and reaffirmed its $500 price target. Wu believes Apple is positioned to outperform in the current tough macroeconomic environment.
47 Comments
"the company doesn't need to win over everyone to continue success."
This is what I and many, many others have said over and over again. Apple doesn't need to monopolize the entire market (like MSFT did) in order to make huge money. Can't tell you how many times some PC troll has come around saying Apple is a loser because of their small market share. Or Apple needs to make cheaper computers to gain share. Blah dee frickin' blah. Wrong!
MFST and DELL wish they were making Apple's money.
The resurgence of the Mac should give pause to people who think that Android's early marketshare gains will inevitably be maintained. Windows is a much stronger competitor to the Mac than Android is to the iPhone in terms of the platform's entrenchment in the marketplace, third party software support, and overall coherence. And the Mac's resurgence started from a much, much lower marketshare than what the iPhone currently has.
Even without legal issues, Android would have to be seen as highly vulnerable. Much of Android's marketshare appears to be "low quality" in the sense that many Android phones, particularly in developing countries, are not really being used as smartphones, but as feature phones. I strongly suspect that Android is near its marketshare peak.
The resurgence of the Mac should give pause to people who think that Android's early marketshare gains will inevitably be maintained. Windows is a much stronger competitor to the Mac than Android is to the iPhone in terms of the platform's entrenchment in the marketplace, third party software support, and overall coherence. And the Mac's resurgence started from a much, much lower marketshare than what the iPhone currently has.
Macs are up to what, 3.something percent?
I don't see how this is possible. People are getting dumber (re: Tea Party).
Smart choices are getting more and more rare.
Macs are up to what, 3.something percent?
They are around 90% of the $1000+ PC category.