Apple is the largest, most dominant and highly valued
company on the planet, reports Businessweek.. It’s measured against entire
gross national products. Doubt it at your peril. And yet Apple does not control
its own destiny. After all, the company counts on wireless carriers to connect
and help market its iPhones. What if the likes of AT&T, Verizon Wireless,
and Sprint (combined worth: roughly half
of Apple) don’t necessarily like the idea of just getting by financially while
the Cha-chinger of Cupertino hordes spectacular profits? What if they wise up
and realize they can earn a bigger cut of the recurring windfall every time
Apple upgrades its hardware? Or just slow the iPhone’s aggressive upgrade cycle
to protect their own profits?
It’s a grain of kosher salt being offered by analyst Walter
Piecyk of brokerage BTIG, who is sounding a rare cautionary call on Apple
(which Wall Street rates with 49 Buys, 7 Holds—including Piecyk—and just 1
Sell). On Monday he downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy (Blasphème, mon
camarade!) on the fear that the carriers will get their act together this year
to defend their profitability.
More? Check out http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-12/apple-and-the-revenge-of-the-phone-carriers
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