Apple ‘iAnywhere’ could be ‘next big thing’ for tech giant, says J.P. Morgan
February 12, 2014, 11:05 AM ET
- Apple
With signs of slower growth for both the iPhone and the iPad, Apple will have to start mapping out a strategy for its next big leap.
And J.P. Morgan analysts Mark Moskowitz and Mike Kim think Apple AAPL +0.68% will do just that with its own version of the “Internet of Everything .”
They’ve even come up with a name befitting an Apple project: “iAnywhere.”
“The growth arc in iPhone is flattening out, and iPad has not stepped up to become the next growth chariot,” the J.P. Morgan analysts told clients in a note. “With replacement cycles elongating and competitive pressures likely increasing, we think iAnywhere could provide Apple a leapfrog event ahead of the competition.”
This “next big thing” for Apple would essentially be a “converged platform” featuring the company’s Mac OS and iOS operating systems in which an iPhone or an iPad would be able to “dock into a specially configured display to run as a computer.”
This imagined Apple “iAnywhere,” they wrote, “could be the leapfrog event.”
“In our view, iAnywhere could be a stepping stone to a broader peripherals and services-led sale, partially reducing Apple’s dependence on device-led product cycles,” they wrote. Apple could make money by selling “specially configured displays, iAnywhere-capable iPhones or iPads, and cloud-based software and storage services.”
The speculation comes at a time of growing concern about Apple’s future growth prospects, especially in the wake of intensifying competition from Samsung , Lenovo and devices powered by Google’s GOOG +0.29% Android operating system.
“The last two major iPhone product launches resulted in shorter growth spurts relative to the multi-quarter growth phenomena exhibited previously,” the J.P. Morgan analysts said. “We think this dynamic indicates Apple’s penetration of the higher-end segment of the smartphone market is reaching a saturation point; thus, it is time for the next big thing – iAnywhere.”
— Ben Pimentel
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