Analysts Think Apple Needs New Products As Court Rejects Samsung Ban Request

By: Talha Bhatti  |   December 19th, 2012   |   Apple, Business, News

Apple’s previous track record of bringing game changing technology to consumers has been putting pressure on the firm to come up with the next big thing. Since December 16, five Wall Street analysts have dropped their price targets on Apple shares. Some have pointed at the orders being placed by Apple with its suppliers as an indication that iPhone and iPad sales are not going to meet expectations. Some are also arguing that Apple requires new products to stop the advance of Google and Samsung.

 

Citigroup Inc., Pacific Crest Securities, Mizuho Securities USA, BMO Capital Markets and Canaccord Genuity have made an about face from their predictions and analysis earlier in the year about Apple and its future. At the time, two of these analysts were arguing that Apple could hit $1,000 but the stock of the company has dropped 25% since September. The drop comes from speculation that Apple’s popular smartphone is saturating the market place.

 

Apple had recently won US$1.05 billion in damages in a case were the jury decided Samsung had infringed on Apples features for the iPhone and iPad. However, earlier this week, a U.S. judge denied Apple’s permanent injunction request against Samsung smartphones. Now Apple will still have to face the competitor in the market place and the Korean maker’s Android powered smartphones and tablets are catching on fast.

 

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ruled on Monday that the appellate ruling is a binding legal precedent. She stated that, “The phones at issue in this case contain a broad range of features, only a small fraction of which are covered by Apple’s patents. Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions.”

 

Apple still has a lot of believers who think the company will be fine for the near term. With iPhone sales starting in China with record numbers Apple has a lot of room to grow in the country. Also it is expected that Apple will bring lower priced devices to market to capture developing countries and their consumers who cannot afford the premium on most Apple products.

 

Source: Financial Post