Neil HughesShaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors in which he saidhe believes the new "iPhone HD" will become the new flagship handset, while last year's iPhone 3GS will become the low-end model. He said the $99 iPhone 3G has arguably been "disappointing," as most Apple customers have opted to upgrade to the iPhone 3GS.
But Wu said there is a possibility that CEO Steve Jobs could use the June 7 keynote to unveil "iTunes.com," a name commonly used to refer to Apple's unannounced cloud-based streaming music service. If Apple did unveil the service, it would be a surprise, as previous rumors have alleged that the company is engaged only in preliminary negotiations with record labels over such a service.
Talks with the labels have reportedly gained little traction, as they feel streaming a single purchase to multiple devices constitutes multiple uses. By that definition, the labels could seek a greater share of revenue from iTunes purchases.
Apple's negotiating tactics with the labels have gained the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice. Staff members with the department have reportedly started inquiries with music labels as part of a broad investigation of the online music market.
Wu also noted that the Mac Pro and MacBook Air were last refreshed in March and June of 2009, respectively, making the computers potential candidates for an update at the June 7 keynote.
Earlier this month, a rumor suggested an update for the MacBook Air was imminent, though that failed to materialize. Apple did, however, quietly refresh its low-end MacBook, giving it a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics.
In March, AppleInsider reported that Apple would update its desktop Mac Pro by June, adding a total of 12-cores from Intel's latest Westmere architecture to the high-end desktop. Apple is also expected to release a second LED-backlit Cinema Display, measuring 27-inches diagonally and resembling its existing 24-inch model released in October of 2008.
Wu expects Apple to report $14 billion in revenue and $2.90 in earnings per share, above the Wall Street consensus of $13.9 billion and $2.84 EPS, for the June quarter. He believes Apple will sell 8.05 million iPhones, 3.2 million Macs, 2 million iPads, and 10 million iPods. Kaufman Bros. has reiterated its buy rating for AAPL stock, and maintained a price target of $320.
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48 Comments
A new Macbook Air could give us hints on the external design of the upcoming MBP ! No.. maybe.. perhaps .. ?
What the MacBook Air needs, as well as all Mac laptops, is a recessed spring loaded SD slot like in cameras.
This way one can buy SDXC cards (up to 2TB as they become available) and just leave them inside the machine.
Would justify using the expensive and low storage SSD options as one wouldn't keep their files on the boot drive.That and more anti-glare screen options for those who need it.
I can't wait for the people who start complaining on what doesn't get talked about. No updates to XYZ? This is the worst WWDC ever, how dare they not mention XYZ?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Hey, I'm always up for a good game of "How wrong can Shaw Wu possibly be".
Mac Pro makes sense. Now that there are 6 core Xeon chips, Apple will undoubtedly use them.
MBA is a different story. There's really nothing much faster in the ULV line that Apple can use in the current design. If they go to ULV i5, they have the same problem as the 13" MBP - either accept crappy Intel graphics or find a way to have discrete graphics without busting the heat/energy budget.
Because of that, I expect that they won't release a significantly new MBA until they've done a complete redesign. You might see a slight clock speed bump on the current model, but that would be so minor that it would not be worth a WWDC announcement.