Apple in Piper Alpha ranks

Apple now has one of the best outlooks among companies tracked by Piper Jaffray, say analysts from the research firm. The former corporation is now a member of Piper's Alpha List, due to three separate factors. The first of these is the current Back to School promotion, under which some Mac purchases by students are eligible for a free iPod touch, normally selling for $299. This has driven both Mac and iPod sales, notably, and Piper believes the impact has been underestimated by other researchers.

Although Apple has not yet announced anything, Piper adds that it continues to expect an event this month in which Apple will announce new iPods and notebooks. For investors this could mean a 4 percent share growth between the week before the event and the week after, or 47 percent between the week before and four months later.

Piper is lastly pegging expectations on shipments of the iPhone 3G, which has already increased its potential subscriber base from 370 million to 660 million by adding 21 new countries in the month of August. Hopes are also pinned on the impending addition of Russia to the list of nations, though it is not certain if the iPhone will arrive there before 2009. Piper is forecasting September-quarter shipments of 4.1 million phones, and a December-quarter number of 6.4 million.

by MacNN Staff