14 DAY TRIAL // Chief Apple Analyst Katy Huberty, with financial services firm Morgan Stanley, reportedly visited Cupertino last week to talk with a trio of Apple execs on rumors of the delayed iPhone 5 launch, as well as other burning topics.
Executives Peter Oppenheimer, Ron Johnson and Eddy Cue were reluctant to disclose any specific plans (which falls under company-secrets), according to World of Apple, but Huberty did walk out of the meeting with “increased confidence," the report says.
The discussions between Huberty and the three Apple executives reportedly centered around rumors of a later-than-normal launch of the next-generation iPhone 5.
Huberty was unable to squeeze any definitive answer out of Oppenheimer, Johnson or Cue, who were more willing to discuss iPhone penetration, as well as building larger and more retail stores.
But they did throw Huberty a bone. They said Apple follows product cycles driven more by software, rather than hardware, according to the report.
Apple is known to be planning a huge upgrade with iOS 5, the next major iOS release being rumored to be heavily focused on cloud / Internet services.
With a $540 price target on AAPL, Huberty cited her confidence in Apple’s success as a direct result of these key factors:
· LTE iPhone upgrade cycle and lower priced 3G iPhone in 2012 · Larger tablet market and continued Apple market dominance longer-term · Expanding distribution in China · Potential for Apple to enter the Smart TV market in 2012-13.
Finally, the report notes, the $540 target is directly tied to a best case scenario in which iPhone sales grow 55% per year over the next couple of years, while iPad and Mac sales are supposed to grow 74% and 17%, respectively.
Whereas the executives reportedly declined to provide Huberty with any iPhone 5 specifics, the analyst appears to have, in fact, learned that Apple will be rolling out an LTE iPhone in 2012 at the very latest.
Also noteworthy is that her predictions include a lower-priced iPhone 3G in the same timeframe.
This should help sustain rumors that Apple is planning to put an iPhone in the hands of customers who are less eager to spend a small fortune on a smartphone.