Edible Apple

In his first research note covering Apple, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White levied a $1001 price target on the company’s shares. And with Apple currently hovering in the $618 range, Apple shares will have to appreciate by 62% to reach the $1000 level. Incidentally, it’s curious, and somewhat comical, that White’s price target is one thousand AND one dollars instead of an even grand, but I digress.

Driving White’s bullish outlook on Apple is that the company, over the next year and a half, stands to make even further gains in the markets it already dominates, those being mobile phones and tablets. Further, White believes Apple will release an integrated TV that will further prop up profits to unprecedented levels.

“Driven by an ever expanding portfolio of innovative products, a growing integrated digital grid, unmatched aesthetics and a brand that is able to touch the soul of consumers of all backgrounds, Apple fever is spreading like a wildfire around the world and we see no end in sight to this trend,” White said.

Also impacting his rosy outlook on Apple is the opportunity presented by China, which has become an increasingly important contributor to Apple’s bottom line. You might remember that during an earnings conference call a few months back, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company had barely scratched the surface regarding the potential they see there.

All in all, White writes that Apple’s all-encompassing ecosystem provides it with an unmatched array of products and services, with iCloud being the latest addition to a strong stable of products that deliver user experiences competitors have been unable to match.

Thus far, shares of Apple have already risen about 45% since January. A 62% increase from current levels would mean that Apple shares, in just 16 months, would have risen well over 100%. It sounds lofty, to be sure, but with Apple’s P/E coming in at only 17.6 Or so, it’s really not all that outlandish, especially in light of Apple’s relatively small marketshare in the worldwide smartphone market.

via Apple Insider

Tim Cook has been Apple’s official CEO for about 9 months now and he’s already climbed to the top of Glassdoor’s CEO approval rankings.

A few days ago, Glassdoor released its list of the 25 highest rated CEOs of 2012 and Tim Cook took home the top spot with a 97% approval rating, slightly besting Steve Jobs’ previous approval rating of 95%. Behind Tim Cook were Jim Turley of Ernst & Young, Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm, Ken Chenault of American Express, and Larry Page of Google.

While many were quick to question how a Job-less Apple would operate, Cook has kept Apple running without missing a beat. In the process, Cook has also managed to put his own stamp on Apple.

Back in September you might remember that Cook instituted a charitable matching program for employees wherein Apple promised to match, up to $10,000 per year per employee, all donations Apple made to charitable organizations.

And more recently, in light of Apple’s growing pile o’ cash, Apple announced a stock buyback and a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share. While this wouldn’t ordinarily be newsworthy for any other company, Apple under Steve Jobs wasn’t particularly keen on giving back money to its shareholders. But with Apple’s cash pile now creeping closer and closer to $100 billion, there was no justifiable reason to keep on holding onto that cash indefinitely. One wonders if Apple would have made such an announcement had Steve Jobs not passed away.

Related:

The Hiring Process at Apple

Tim Cook – Joining Apple was the best decision I ever made

First there was Noah Wyle, and now there’s Ashton Kutcher.

We’re not sure what to make of this but Variety is reporting that Ashton Kutcher – who you likely recognize from That 70s Show, Punked, and Two and a Half Men – has been tapped to play Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in an indie film titled “Jobs”, based on a script from Matt Whiteley.

The film will chronicle Steve Jobs from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of our time.

Five Star Institute’s Mark Hulme is financing and will produce the pic, which is scheduled to start production in May while Kutcher is on hiatus from his hit CBS series.

The news is interesting because this isn’t the only Steve Jobs movie in the works.

Previously, we heard that Sony Pictures was hoping to get Aaron Sorkin on board as a screenwriter for a Jobs biopic. Sorkin, of course, is an accomplished writer responsible for hits such as A Few Good Men, The West Wing, and more recently, Social Network. And Sony, if you recall, purchased the film rights to Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography shortly after his death. While the exact price Sony paid wasn’t disclosed, insiders believe it’s in the $1 million to $3 million range.

In any event, word circulated back in October that Sorkin was in negotiations  to adapt Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography into a film.

At the time, Sorkin said Sony had asked him to write the movie and that it was something he was “strongly considering.”

So it looks like we’ll be privy to two Steve Jobs movies.

One last point of interest, Ashton Kutcher and Steve Jobs are the same height – 6’2.

via Variety

It’s April Fools ya’ll, and once again, it’s a holiday that the good folks at Google seemingly take very seriously. Not that we’re complaining, of course. Google has brought us some of the funnier tech-related April Fools Day pranks that we can remember.

This year, Google came up with Google Maps 8-Bit for the NES. It’s a solid effort, to be sure.

But this one here, is the creme de la creme. It’s a video for a feature called Gmail Tap, and, well, I don’t want to ruin it for you but it’s great. They really capture the vibe of what these tech videos are typically like, and it also features an unexpected cameo from the likes of LL Cool J. Tap Tap bitches!

“When Reed Morse first came to my office and he said that he had an idea for bringing Morse Code back, I got really excited.”

via 9to5Google

Apple’s voice recognition/personal assistant feature, which you may affectionately refer to as Siri, debuted on the iPhone 4S and seems to be the focal point of every iPhone commercial you catch on TV these days. But way back in 2007, when the very idea of an advanced smartphone like the iPhone was completely novel, Apple’s iPhone ads struck a completely different chord.

The very first iPhone commercials were created to inform the masses as to what the iPhone could even do. It’s almost funny to think of an iPhone commercial that tells users how to “slide to unlock” the device, and how to go about checking one’s email or listening to music. Indeed, the revolutionary nature of the iPhone is underscored by the type of commercials Apple released back in 2007.

You can take a look at these commercials and a whole lot more over at Adweek where they’ve assembled  each and every one of Apple’s 84 iPhone commercials released to date. That’s a whole lot of advertising, and Apple’s longtime ad partner TBWA has been behind each and every single one.

Below is Apple’s first iPhone commercial, aptly titled “Hello.”

And here is Apple’ second iPhone commercial, titled “How To.”

And for all you trivia buffs out there, hit the break for a listing of all the movie/TV stars that appeared in the iPhone “Hello” ad.

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Foss Patents reports:

Les Échos, a French financial daily, reports that deep divisions in the industry over the future SIM card standard made it impossible to reach an agreement at the ETSI meeting that started yesterday (Thursday) and ends today (Friday). According to the report, the participating companies have failed to reach an agreement and decided not to hold the envisioned vote. In accordance with ETSI rules, the vote will now have to be postponed by a minimum of 30 days.

It appears that Nokia’s overt unwillingness to license its potentially essential patents in the event that Apple’s nano-SIM proposal is adopted and Sandisk’s resistance to Nokia’s proposal have resulted in an impasse. Sandisk, too, holds patents that may be essential to a new SIM card standard.

Yet another moron has filed a class action suit against Apple over Siri and it’s apparent inability to work as advertised. For me, Siri works fine, and I wonder why people choose to sue rather than return a device that doesn’t work as expected.

The new suit, filed in a U.S. District Court by a David Jones living in California, makes the same basic accusation that the previous complaint did — that Apple oversells Siri’s abilities in advertising and TV commercials.

Apple officials were unavailable for comment on the lawsuits on Wednesday.

“Through its nationwide multimedia marketing campaign, Apple disseminates false and deceptive representations regarding the functionality of the Siri feature,” the suit alleges. “For example, in many of Apple’s television commercials, consumers are shown using Siri to make appointments, find restaurants, and even to learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs. In its advertisements, Apple depicts these tasks as easily accomplished “just by asking” Siri.”

However, Jones hasn’t found that using Siri is that easy, the suit said.

via LA Times

The WSJ reports:

Google, undaunted by a short-lived attempt to market and sell smartphones on its own, is now trying the approach with tablet computers in a quest to capture market share from Apple’s iPad.

The Internet search company will sell co-branded tablets directly to consumers through an online store like rivals Apple and Amazon according to people familiar with the matter. The move is an effort to turn around sluggish sales of tablet computers powered by Google’s Android software.

Disappointing revenue, slumping earnings, no exciting products to speak of, and resignations all point to a sinking ship for a company that, at one point in time, was the smartphone leader.

And yet, they rip this off from Apple’s Xcode.

Perhaps this crazy 10 month bout of litigation that has spanned the globe will come to an end sooner than later according to a report from Business Week.

Citing people familiar with Apple’s situation, the report claims that executives from both Samsung and Apple have “communicated lately about potential settlement options.”

“Apple CEO Tim Cook does not seem to share his predecessor’s passion about laying all foes to waste,” the report adds. “Cook appears to view litigation as a necessary evil, not a vehicle of cosmic revenge.”

Digitimes reports that Apple is gearing up to begin production on 15-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Pro models. Production on the 15-inch model is said to commence in April while production on the 13.3-inch model will begin in June.