14 DAY TRIAL // The talk about the yet-to-be-launched iPhone goes on, with more predictions and advice from analysts. Forbes' Taesik Yoon published an article entitled 'Beware Apple's iPhone Froth', advising investors to wisely avoid for a while the so-tempting Apple stock. He thinks Apple has overestimated the iPhone's market and that numbers will likely not be as high as Apple has predicted.
Otherwise, analysts have rated Apple (AAPL) stock as Buy, with price targets around $110, if not higher. The Forbes analyst says investors should think twice about buying Apple stock, "solely on the faith of this new product". He says the iPhone is too expensive and has great competition to deal with.
"Even if the growth in smart phones could support the sale of 10 million iPhones by 2008, Apple's own strategic decisions could easily prevent the company from meeting its target."
The analyst thinks Apple did not make the right choice when selecting Cingular as exclusive carrier in the United States, because it may lose customers under contract with other major US carriers.
Hmm, could be. Though I don't disagree with Taesik Yoon about the challenges iPhone will face, I'm not sure about the "solely on the faith of this new product" thing. True, I'm no experienced analyst, but aren't we forgetting some aspects? How about Leopard? Or Apple TV? Or iTunes Store? Aren't these moneymakers too?
Though it's true the iPhone sales could prove disappointing, I don't see this as a good-enough reason to say Apple stocks are to be avoided. There's much more to Apple than the iPhone.
We'll keep you posted on more information about the iPhone and, if you have predictions of your own about the future of Apple's latest gadget, feel free to comment on it.