Apple talks of combining the company's hit iPod digital music player with a cellphone.
The introduction of most cellular phones doesn't cause much buzz on Wall Street, and when it does it usually is because analysts have actually seen the gadgets. But when the cellphone maker could be Apple Computer Inc. and the company hasn't even confirmed the existence of the device, the chatter just won't stop.
In the past six months, talk about an Apple device that combines the entertainment functions of the company's hit iPod digital music player with a cellphone has reached new heights. The hypersecretive Apple has stayed silent on its phone plans has only amplified speculation about a device. Entering the cellphone business likely would give Apple a huge revenue boost, which would be good for current shareholders over the long term.
People familiar with the matter say Apple's cellphone is in the works. One person says it likely would have voice and music capabilities in its initial version, but not email and word-processing software. Apple has provided some tantalizing clues about its plans. An Apple patent application related to a wireless iPod-like device was recently made public on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site. Analysts and bloggers have widely speculated that the Apple cellphone could be called the iPhone, but the prospects of that look more doubtful now: Earlier this week, Cisco Systems Inc. released a family of Internet phones under the name iPhone.
Ms. Runkle wrote that she had been told that two cellphone models went into production this month with four-gigabyte and eight-gigabyte storage capacities, similar to the iPod nano and enough to store as many as a few thousand songs. She has Morgan Stanley's most positive rating on the stock.
As big as the risks are, it would be riskier for Apple to ignore the cellphone market. Handset makers are improving the entertainment functions of their products, designing them with music
playback in mind and adding more storage capacity.
Read full story at MoneyWebThe introduction of most cellular phones doesn't cause much buzz on Wall Street, and when it does it usually is because analysts have actually seen the gadgets. But when the cellphone maker could be Apple Computer Inc. and the company hasn't even confirmed the existence of the device, the chatter just won't stop.
In the past six months, talk about an Apple device that combines the entertainment functions of the company's hit iPod digital music player with a cellphone has reached new heights. The hypersecretive Apple has stayed silent on its phone plans has only amplified speculation about a device. Entering the cellphone business likely would give Apple a huge revenue boost, which would be good for current shareholders over the long term.
People familiar with the matter say Apple's cellphone is in the works. One person says it likely would have voice and music capabilities in its initial version, but not email and word-processing software. Apple has provided some tantalizing clues about its plans. An Apple patent application related to a wireless iPod-like device was recently made public on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site. Analysts and bloggers have widely speculated that the Apple cellphone could be called the iPhone, but the prospects of that look more doubtful now: Earlier this week, Cisco Systems Inc. released a family of Internet phones under the name iPhone.
Ms. Runkle wrote that she had been told that two cellphone models went into production this month with four-gigabyte and eight-gigabyte storage capacities, similar to the iPod nano and enough to store as many as a few thousand songs. She has Morgan Stanley's most positive rating on the stock.
As big as the risks are, it would be riskier for Apple to ignore the cellphone market. Handset makers are improving the entertainment functions of their products, designing them with music
playback in mind and adding more storage capacity.
Furl It
Simpy
No comments:
Post a Comment