Apple (AAPL) Gets Boost on iPad Expectations

With iPad sales expected to rise above expectations, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley, he gave the shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) a boost, raising his price target on them, along with EPS for 2012.

Walkley raised his iPad sales estimate for 2011 to 36.5 million units, 2.5 million more than his original iPad sales projection of 34 million.

As for iPad sales estimates for 2012, he sees it rising from 48 million to 54 million.

Concerning gross profit, that is expected to drop to 38.2 percent by Walkley, down from last year's 39.4 percent. Supply chain disruptions from the earthquake in Japan will probably force the company to offer up some price concessions in order to get the needed parts.

EPS estimate for 2011 is $22.74, while for fiscal 2012 EPS estimate to was increased to $26.64 from $25.60.

Apple closed Monday at $341.19, falling $3.37, or 0.98 percent. Walkley raised his price target on Apple from $460 to $480.

Staples To Sell (RIMM) (MMI) (DELL) Tablets

As a wave of competitors to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2 hit the market, Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) announced they're going to offer a wide range of new tablets, including those from Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Samsung, Acer, Toshiba and Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI).

The office supply and electronic retailer said they're now taking pre-orders for a variety of tablets now available.

Staples said they have a goal of becoming a major player in the tablet market as the sector grows.

Major retailing competitors of the company like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Office Depot (NYSE:ODP) and Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH) have already either committed to or are offering tablets too.

Radio Shack (RSH) in iPad (AAPL) Deal

Sources say Radio Shack (RSH) will start selling Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2 today, after a reported several days of recent negotiations.

Various sources have confirmed Radio Shack has definitely made the deal to sell the iPad, pushing up the shares of the stock before the close, as news spread of the deal.

RadioShack closed Monday at $15.01, gaining $0.71, or 4.97 percent. Apple closed at $350.44, falling $1.10, or 0.31 percent.

RIM (RIMM) Now Taking Orders on PlayBook

Retailer Best Buy (BBY) announced it'll now be taking orders on Research in Motion's (Nasdaq:RIMM) tablet offering "Playbook," moving the share price up in early trading, although it has pulled back some as the day has gone on.

These are pre-orders being offered, as the BlackBerry PlayBook won't be available in stores until April 19 in the North American market.

Playbooks will be available in "Best Buy stores and Best Buy Mobile stores in the US, as well as Best Buy and Future Shop stores in Canada, on April 19, 2011," said the company.

You can go to the website of Best Buy and click on a link to pre-order the device.

Prices for Playbook are lower than originally put forth, starting off at $499.99 for a 16 gigabyte Wi-Fi model, and runs through $699.99 for the 64GB version. This is similar to the price being asked for for Apple's iPad 2 (NASDAQ:AAPL).

As the sale of Playbook rolls out, RIM said they have close to 20,000 retailers to distribute the tablet in North America.

Research in Motion was trading at $62.29, up $0.12, or 0.19 percent, as of 11:55 AM EDT.

Apple (AAPL) Says Global iPad 2 Launch on Schedule

The earthquake in Japan has generated worries that the launch of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2 may be in jeopardy, but according to Apple, the international launch of the device remains on schedule.

Apple said the original launch date of March 25 hasn't been changed.

An Apple spokesperson said, "Everything that is on [Apple's U.K.] website still holds true; the website says 25 March and that's when it'll be."

That's different for the Japanese launch, which has been pushed back until a later date.

Countries where the iPad 2 will go on sale on Friday in alphabetical order are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.

Apple (AAPL) iPad Has 2-3 Week of Components Left

The immensely popular Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reportedly only has, at best, 3 weeks of components left to produce the tablet unless something changes in that time. It could be as low as 2 weeks of components left, according to a DigiTimes report.

If Japan doesn't turn things around quickly, production on the iPad will come to a halt unless alternative supplies are found.

Also at risk is Apple's iPhone, which, along with the iPad, could have production shortage through the June quarter, concluded Analysts at Piper Jaffray.

Apple closed Friday at $330.67, down $3.97, or 1.19 percent.

Apple's (AAPL) iPad 2 At Risk from Japan Crisis

According to market tracker IHS iSuppli, Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) new iPad 2 tablet could be at risk from the earthquake in Japan, saying it "may cause logistical disruptions and supply shortages."

ISuppli noted that Apple uses Japanese companies to supply a hard-to-replace electronic compass, battery and possibly advanced-technology glass in the new iPad.

With things expected to get worse before they get better, this could be a blow to Apple, especially if competitors to same the same risk.

One temporary positive is Apple already had its initial launch of the iPad, and we're entering a slower retail period. That could help limit the damage, depending on the length and depth of the problem.

It does generate questions as to assertions by other tech companies with exposure to Japan who have said they don't foresee any disruptions in supply. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) come to mind.

Apple closed Thursday at $334.64, gaining $4.63, or 1.40 percent.

Credit Suisse (CS) Spins Apple (AAPL) As Most Valuable Company

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) got crushed on Wednesday, plummeting by 4.5 percent after being downgraded.

That has been somewhat answered by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) today, who launched coverage on Apple with an "Outperform" rating and a $500 price target. That is a 52 percent upside from Apple's Wednesday close.

Assuming the price target is accurate, it would make Apple the most valuable company in the world. It makes a nice headline and attracts interest, but that 52 percent upside isn't exactly you can turn on or off as a company.

"In its rating, Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha concluded that Apple should be able to deliver outsized revenue and earnings growth of 50% and 46%, respectively, over the next two years. This would be significantly greater than the consensus expectations," said TheStreet.

"Garcha said Apple's iPhone is still the driver. He sees Apple's smartphone share rising to 20 percent in 2012 driving volume of 72 million units in 2011 and 112 million in 2012. This would translate into revenue for Apple of $47 billion and $67 billion, respectively.

"On the iPad, Garcha sees the tablet market rising to $120 billion in 2015. In the segment, Apple will continue to dominate and they see the company maintaining share as high as 50 percent long-term. By 2012, the Apple's iPad could become a $34 billion business. In addition, iPad gross margins could expand to 35 percent by the end of this year, up form 27 percent in 2010.

"Garcha said he still sees room for an extra $10 per share in earnings, driven by a low-end iPhone, a greater push into emerging markets, along with enterprise traction."

Apple was trading at $338.55, gaining $8.54, or 2.59 percent, as of 12:14 PM EDT.





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Shares of (MMI) Cut on Lower Xoom Sales

Shares of Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) were getting hit today as Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Ittai Kidron cut his outlook on the stock after he downwardly adjusted his expectations for sales of "Xoom."

Kidron said, “We believe Motorola has missed an opportunity to make its mark in the market by initially targeting value vs. volume.”

He said he sees more modest sales of Xoom than he has originally expected, and thinks they missed a big opportunity by not offering a variety of tablets at different price points.

Consequently, he cut his 2011 EPS and revenue outlook for Motorola Mobility, as it looks like they won't get the market share gains he thought they would against Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2.

Kidron reiterates an "Outperform" rating on Motorola Mobility, which was trading at $23.35, down $1.34, or 5.43 percent, as of 2:40 PM EDT. He also lowered his price target on the company from $36 to $32.

Nvidia (NVDA) Valuation Getting Interesting Says JMP Securities

Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) valuation is getting interesting, according to JMP Securities analyst Alex Gauna, citing the “classic post-Consumer Electronics Show trading pattern” revealing itself.

In other words, Nvidia has been sold off by over 30 percent from recent highs on the hoopla centering on tablets using the chips of the company weakening since Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2 unveiling.

Gauna’s said he's still waiting on the stock for now, but, “we see interesting valuation conditions emerging in Nvidia for investors will to risk being a bit early to its Android and Windows dance, and/or weather a bit more seasonal/sentiment chop.”

He maintains a "Market Perform" on Nvidia, which was trading at $17.96, up $0.04, or 0.22 percent, as of 12:47 PM EST.




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JPMorgan (JPM), iPad (AAPL) and (MMI) (RIMM) Tablet Bubble Bursting

With the positive response to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) says the tablet bubble could burst, leaving competitors like Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) and Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) struggling, as they may be producing far too many tablets for the market.

JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said, "In our view, the technical and form factor improvements of the iPad 2 stand to make it tougher for the first generation of competitive offerings to play catch-up, meaning actual shipments could fall well short of plan."

Moskowitz believes the number of tablets being made will be at about 65.1 million, far above his original estimate of 47.9 million. He sees a potential oversupply of up to 51 percent.

"Based on our research inputs, tablet makers eager to emulate Apple’s meteoric start are trying to secure components with inflated build plans," Moskowitz added. "Of note, glass displays, processors, and, to a lesser extent, NAND Flash are the components that could be most at risk."

Consequently, he also sees suppliers of components having the most to lose in that scenario.

AT&T's (T) iPad 2 (AAPL) Getting Unlimited Plan

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced customers that now have an $30-per-month data plan on their Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad will have that extended if they buy the iPad 2 when it's released.

Customers wanting to buy the original iPad will now also get a $100 discount.

For the unlimited data plan, that was offered at the beginning of the release of the first iPad to generates sales, and was changed to a tiered plan afterwards.

AT&T closed Tuesday at $28.45, gaining $0.55, or 1.97 percent. Apple closed at $355.76, up $0.40, or 0.11 percent.

Walmart (WMT), Best Buy (BBY) Offering iPad 2 (AAPL)

It appears from the advertisement on Best Buy's (NYSE:BBY) website that they'll be offering the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2 at the same time as Apple retails stores.

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) also has iPad 2 advertising on its website, but they stop short of giving a particular date it'll have it available. It only says there that device will be coming soon.

So as of now, it seems those making their way to a Best Buy or Apple store will be the first ones to lay their hands on the iPad 2.

The launch date for the introduction of iPad 2 is March 11, with a time of 5 PM scheduled.

iPad Killers (AAPL)? Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Research in Motion (RIMM), Motorola Mobility (MMI)

While some have been all but declaring the tablet war all but over with the introduction of Apples (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2, the truth is this is just the beginning of a long, drawn-out battle, and companies like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Research in Motion (RIMM) and Motorola Mobility (MMI) are just getting going.

Last week, Apple's ability to raise even the simplest innovation to the level of an epiphany was once again on display.

Apple's chief evangelist, Steve Jobs, took the stage in San Francisco to unveil the second version of the iPad. It's faster, it weighs less, and it has cameras and other neat things. But the moment of revelation was when Jobs described a new polyurethane cover that Apple (AAPL) has designed for the device.

"Our engineering and industrial-design team came up with this idea of using magnets that grasp it, and auto-align it," said Jobs, his voice rising in intensity as he pronounced "auto-align," as if to convey the wonderment.

In the hands of any other CEO, that moment would have been, well, merely something or other about magnets. With Jobs' air of authority, mixed with genuine enthusiasm and a dash of frisson, the moment surpassed the best any Home Shopping Network pitchman ever had to offer.

Magnets! Of course! Who would have thought!

The performance left the Wall Street analysts in attendance duly stunned, and they promptly declared Apple well ahead of the competition in the tablet-computer wars.

In truth, the tablet war is destined to be a long, long road, and there's no turning back.




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iPad (AAPL) Really Killing Microsoft (MSFT), PCs?

Recently Gartner has been getting a lot of press over their downwardly revised outlook for PC sales because of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, and how that will affect software giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

Gartner noted, "We once thought that mobile PC growth would continue to be sustained by consumers buying second and third mobile PCs as personal devices. However, we now believe that consumers are not only likely to forgo additional mobile PC buys but are also likely to extend the lifetimes of the mobile PCs they retain as they adopt media tablets and other mobile PC alternatives as their primary mobile device.

"We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as the iPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets."

Gartner lowered their notebook computer sales outlook from a growth rate of 15.9 percent to 10.5 percent.

The only question in the short term is what the iPad and others can do, as at this time they are more of a toy and not able to perform the functions of their counterparts.

But as far as consuming media and lesser functions, there's no doubt they're going to take a bite out of PC sales, and Microsoft, from that point of view. Once they are able to do more, it could become even more serious, depending on Microsoft's response, which isn't going to be around the time students go back to school in 2012.

Microsoft (MSFT) to Release Windows for Tablets in 2012

People with knowledge of the matter said Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) won't be releasing a tablet competitor to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) until the 2012 back-to-school season.

A beta version won't be available for testing until sometime near the end of 2011, said the sources.

"Microsoft needs to update its Windows 7 operating system with programs more tailored to the touch screens, size and battery life of tablet computers to win a place in the surging market for the devices. The longer it takes Microsoft to release its operating system, the more time Apple and Google have to strengthen their hold on the market, Bloomberg noted.

“If 2011 is the year of the tablet wars, Microsoft will be awfully late suiting up for that battle,” said Michael Gartenberg, a New Jersey-based analyst for research firm Gartner Inc. “It’s not a good position to be in.”

Gartenberg added a 2012 debut for Microsoft would probably put it up against a third-generation iPad from Apple and second and third versions of devices based on Google’s Android system. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) will probably also release second-generation tablets by then, he concluded.

While that will probably be the case, it will depend upon what Microsoft offers, as possibly dozens, if not over a hundred different tablet offerings will probably be made over the next year or so, and even if some make some headway, Microsoft will gain some share.

And if they provide an excellent Windows version for the device, they could grab a built-in customer they've been serving for a long time.

Motorola Mobility's (MMI) Tablet Prospects Fading

Shares of Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) closed down Thursday, as Cowen & Co.’s analyst Matthew Hoffman lowered his rating on the company, saying the introduction of iPad 2 (AAPL), which was more competitive than he anticipated, along with the release being sooner than originally believed, had Hoffman saying he sees the short-term prospects of MMI fading at this time.

Hoffman also made a major adjustment in the number of Xoom units he expects Motorola Mobility to sell in 2011, cutting estimates from 3.2 million units to 2.2 million unites. In the second quarter alone he sees as many as 620,000 fewer units of Xoom being shipped.

“The equation shifts more toward Apple — for now,” concluded Hoffman.

Over the long term he sees the $11 a share in cash MMI has allowing them to generate a “defendable long-term share position in tablets overall, and Android tablets specifically.” In the short-term he doesn't see that happening.

Hoffman lowered his rating on MMI from "Outperform" to "Neutral." Motorola closed Thursday at $26.78, dropping $1.60, or 5.64 percent.

Goldman (GS) Boosts Apple (AAPL) Estimates After Unveiling iPad 2

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) increased its EPS estimates on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) after the company unveiled the highly anticipated iPad 2.

Goldman said, "The new device offers significant upgrades from the prior version, which we believe should provide an early line of defense against the wave of tablet competitors arriving in the coming months.While these features were largely in line with expectations, the new iPads will ship earlier than the widely anticipated late-March/early-April time frame. We are maintaining our unit estimates due to our view that the iPad 2 will accelerate Apple's competitive momentum in tablets."

Gold raised its estimates for the full year 2011-13, now seeing revenues this fiscal year of $100.4 billion and EPS of $23.29, an increase from $99.37 billion and $23.07.

For 2012, Goldman sees revenue of $122.68 billion and EPS of $28.61, up from a previous view of $119.79 billion and $27.98. In 2013, Goldman sees Apple with revenues of $134.85 billion and EPS of $31.32, up from $131.63 and $30.56.

Goldman maintains a "Conviction Buy List" rating on Apple, which was trading at $358.55, up $6.43, or 1.83 percent, as of 11:21 AM EST. They have a price target of $450 on Apple.

Apple's iPad (AAPL) Makes Nice Leap Forward

There was a somewhat tempered outlook on the release of the iPad 2 by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and even though its release was highly anticipated, the unveiling was largely in line with expectations, and it did make a nice jump forward in quality, even it was was more incremental, with nothing exactly screaming at you.

While the announcement wasn’t a game-changer, I think we have become jaded to a degree when it comes to some of the incremental improvements to Apple products. In this case, the ability to increase speed dramatically and add two cameras and various other new bells and whistles to the operating system while decreasing the thickness of the device by one-third is pretty remarkable.

Much of the credit goes to its proprietary A5 chip produced by Apple’s “chip wizards,” as Jobs refers to his semiconductor engineers. These enhancements were achieved without decreasing battery life and increasing the price. As the WSJ and others have noted, Apple’s lower production cost, superior retail channel and aggressive pricing seems to be its biggest competitive advantage.

I held the iPad2 in one hand and my own personal 1.0 iPad in the other, and the difference in weight was certainly noticeable. Certainly, the version 1.0 black cases are also heavier than the new “smart covers” held by magnets.

Will it change your life? Hardly. But from an engineering standpoint, and you can ask any smartphone engineer about this, adding considerably more functionality while decreasing the overall real estate footprint is a very impressive accomplishment.

Apple closed Wednesday at $352.12, up $2.81, or 0.80 percent.





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Apple‘s (AAPL) iPad 2 Results in Motorola Mobility (MMI) Downgrade

The unveiling of Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2 didn't take long to cause some ripples, as Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) was quickly downgraded by C.L. King analyst Lawrence Harris.

Most of this centers on the weak performance of Motorola Mobility's Xoom tablet, which was released last week to lackluster sales, even though it was touted as a legitimate alternative to the iPad.

But the unusual commitment of Apple to offering the iPad at lower prices, along with its supply chain successfully churning out iPads to meet demand, has ended up pressuring MMI's shares and performance.

Harris noted that the iPad 2 comes close to meeting the abilities of Xoom. "The iPad 2’s features, which include a dual-core processor, front and back cameras and HDMI output, appear to match most of the high-end attributes of the Motorola XOOM,” he concluded.

MMI was closed Wednesday at $28.38, falling $1.12, or 3.80 percent. Harris lowered the company from a "Strong Buy" to a "Buy."