price target of $43 ??

"Buy" rating with a price target of $43... yet Apple's stock currently trades around $46 or more. So either a typo or someone isn't current with the times.

What they are saying acknowledges that stock prices fluctuate on an almost second to second basis and that a good "target price" to "buy" at would be $43. Only a dummy buys at the highest price! There are a number of well documented weekly trends, one of which is characterised by the fact that Apple NEVER makes product announcements on a Monday, that is, that after a sluggish Monday, the market is generally on a mild ascendent on Tuesdays. Also, announcements that may have a short term negative effect on stocks are made on Fridays after the NYSE has closed for the weekend. A handy thing about being based in California!

I doubt the phone/s will be Apple-branded.

Also, Apple doesn't need to "regain" share in the flash market as the shuffle accounts for about half the market.

... and its not that far fetched. with apple heading the form and factor influence, not to mention the bells and whistles like an ipod with itunes access inside your phone and the possibilities that it opens and creates makes it that much more interesting. its funny but i think that at these levels motorola is just handling the manufacturing. cingular is providing the bandwidth... And I'm just speculating... lol

We already know about the itunes phone. We know about Motorola's involvement. For ages, Jobs has specifically dismissed the notion of Apple getting into cell phones. But let's get serious: who the heck would want an Apple-brand cell phone? There's nothing Apple can bring to the table worth putting out such a product. The cell market is saturated while the mp3 player market was still looking for its sweet spot. Steve had it right. In the past. Does he still 'get it' or is this the next Pippin, round iMac mouse, etc?

They can run a Linux OS on the Phone (moto uses them) They can make it sync well with my Mac like my Nokia They can design the shape of it to not be too damned small They can change the interface of the Phone so that I can hit send and not be prompted to select which number I'm calling from this person's record if one # is on file (HATE SonyEricsson for this) They could do a awful LOT to improve on the handheld phone market, and I know a LOT of people WHO DO NOT own Macs but DO own iPods that would snap up a $300 Apple cell phone due to their impressed nature over the iPod. That's why, bud.

Guys, I just heard this rumor that Apple maybe, just maybe, might be releasing an MP3 PLAYER called The iPod!

Man I need a job as a tech financial analyst.

They can run a Linux OS on the Phone (moto uses them) What does running Linux on the phone give anyone? And why would Apple do this, rather than a version of OS X? So people can say "Hey, look at Apple, they have an OS, but they're not using it because it doesn't scale well like Linux". Yeah, great marketing. Plus, like I said. What does Linux give you except some geeks can get Doom running on it at 3 fps (like some geeks did with a iPod).

They can make it sync well with my Mac like my Nokia Umm, they can do that now with existing phones. Not really a reason to make their own. I have enough trouble getting .Mac to sync between my two macs and adding/deleting changes correctly. What makes you think they can magically get it all to work with a phone.

They can design the shape of it to not be too damned small But why do you need Apple to do this? Any company can provide this capability. And of course one person's "not too small" is 800 people's "Its too big!". h***, Apple got ripped on their multi-button mouse, after all the 'if they make one, it'll be great' calls, because its too big, hard to use, doesn't function correctly the way people need it, etc.

They can change the interface of the Phone so that I can hit send and not be prompted to select which number I'm calling from this person's record if one # is on file (HATE SonyEricsson for this) Gee, don't have this problem myself with my Samsung. Just because Sony can't make a good phone (is anyone surprised?) doesn't mean Apple should make one.

They could do a awful LOT to improve on the handheld phone market, and I know a LOT of people WHO DO NOT own Macs but DO own iPods that would snap up a $300 Apple cell phone due to their impressed nature over the iPod. That's why, bud.

Oh, but that's only if the phone itself is a cool as an iPod, bud. And $300 seems kind of inexpensive for an Apple phone (h***, most standalone phones go for that much, and you know Apple, they like their stuff to be higher priced, so you're probably really talking 400-500 dollars).

But most people I know would not even spend $300 on a cell phone when they can get one from their cell carrier for $50, and get it replaced in two years at no cost, and on and on and on. Most people don't buy unhindered phones, they get their phones from their cell company. And Apple will not be able to get theirs sold through the cell companies without crippling the phone of all the features you think will make it great.

Sorry, but the biggest issue here is Apple getting into a market they have no reason to be in. What's the point? Where's it taking them? The iPod made sense, since music/MP3 was already big, and MP3 players were coming together. But they also had the plan to use the iPod to get into the music distribution business (you would assume, can't imagine they just thought of the iTM

Interesting, I see alot of ROKR haters already. I'm looking for a new phone and don't want to carry around 2 devices (phone and iPod) all the time. I see value in a consolidated product. I want a phone that happens to be able to play music - which is manageable via iTunes - and no phone does that. And I only need to pick like 20 songs for a particular day.

As for the high price tag, that should not be a shock. Plus, the RAZR first came out at like $300, but it's already dropped down a good $100.