Katie MarsalAnalyst Ben Reitzes makes the prediction based on Intel chief Paul Otellini's talks at a Lehman-hosted telecoms conference, where the semiconductor company head notes that he has been "positively surprised" by the take-up of the Atom by the market.
The statement contributes to an existing sentiment at Lehman that Apple may release an ultra-portable device within a year that Reitzes speculates would be oriented towards sharing media. This likelihood grows even further with statements by Otellini that future iterations of Atom will be efficient enough to fit into iPhone-sized devices as early as 2009; having this technology at the smartphone level could have significant implications for Apple, Reitzes says.
"We believe any product using Intel architecture in terms of an ultra-portable or iPhone could be met with orders in the multiple millions, making our estimates for Apple conservative," he elaborates.
The financial researcher also notes that Apple's steadily growing number of carrier deals now gives it access to a potential 650 million subscribers as of the TeliaSonera deal, or about four times as many subscribers that can be reached today. The rapid expansion is characterized as evidence that Apple is pushing for sheer volume in terms of sales and that the company may be counting on added iPhone numbers to compensate for reduced or absent carrier payments.
That number may also be poised to explode before the year is over, the analyst notes: Lehman anticipates the signing of a Chinese carrier by the end of 2008 that would push Apple's total potential customer base to one billion, or more than six times the current range. Such expansion will not only help Apple reach targets but could see any success spill over into other categories.
"We believe higher phone volumes mean that Apple will experience an enhanced halo effect that could drive millions of upside to Mac units," the researcher states.
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33 Comments
It's only a matter of time before we see SEVERAL products from Apple that rely on the Atom processor.
Apple, please make it small for a pocket, but capable of running a full Mac OS X 10.5.3 inside to run full native Keynote and PowerPoint presentations on wired and wireless videoprojectors. Something like this but with Mac OS X:
OQO model e2
http://www.oqo.com
We need thousands for scientific meetings and University.
It's only a matter of time before we see SEVERAL products from Apple that rely on the Atom processor.
I very much doubt it, if you are talking about handheld products. AppleTV or something is a different matter.
Give me one good reason why Apple would release a handheld product with an Atom. Because Intel released it is not a good reason. Apple will use ARM processors for the foreseeable future.
Really, you have to question the level of intelligence of these analysts when they say things like releasing an Intel arch device will sell millions. Why? Its bigger and more power hungry but the masses will run out and buy it because it runs on x86? How many customers will know or care what their handheld runs? Pity the people who actually trade on this guy's pronouncements.
It's only a matter of time before we see SEVERAL products from Apple that rely on the Atom processor.
And I think one of the first will be the AppleTV. It runs close to the edge thermally and this would help. Give it a little more CPU power and cost less, too.
If Apple is smart, they won't even announce a change. It's just an appliance, no reason for customers to know what is inside.
And I think one of the first will be the AppleTV. It runs close to the edge thermally and this would help. Give it a little more CPU power and cost less, too.
If Apple is smart, they won't even announce a change. It's just an appliance, no reason for customers to know what is inside.
I think you're right. The atom would seem to be a nice fit for the ATV.
I'm thinking of getting an ATV but am waiting for a hardware revision. Every time I visit the Apple store and see one, I imidiately notice how hot those things get. I worry that will cause a HW failure given enough time.