Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Apple outlook lowered on fear it cannot ‘innovate’ and ‘disrupt’ at pace set by Steve Jobs

Published Feb 26th, 2013 4:10PM EST
Apple iPhone Sales Analysis

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Apple (AAPL) is expected to sit atop the consumer electronics industry for quite some time to come, but the company’s stock continues to take a beating as growth inevitably slows and margins are squeezed. The latest ding to Apple shares came as Needam & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf lowered his price target from $750 to $710, citing a slowdown in iPhone sales growth and a crunch on iPad margins in the coming 12 months.

In explaining the logic behind his cut, Wolf writes that “the value of the iPad fell $11.83 or 10.8% to $98.11 chiefly because of the introduction of the iPad mini, which has a much lower gross margin that the full-sized iPad.” Where smartphones are concerned, Wolf believes Apple’s smartphones will have a less substantial impact on Apple shares than previously expected.

“The value of the iPhone fell $14.56 or 4.5% to $308.64 because of our assumption that the iPhone’s worldwide share would stabilize at 20% rather than 22% as before,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients picked up by Fortune.

“The lingering risk in the Apple story is that the company may no longer innovate at the same pace and with the same disruption that characterized the era when Steve Jobs was at the helm,” Wolf wrote. “With respect to our valuation model, any deterioration in the iPhone’s market share or gross margin would have an outsized impact on our price target.”

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.