His expectations for the next generation iPhone models are in line with other analysts. Mr. Um said, “We expect the biggest internal hardware addition to be Force Touch alongside memory, CPU, and camera upgrades and capacity to remain unchanged at 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB.”
He expects we'll also see a refresh for the iPad mini, and possibly the rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro next week. The iPad is currently available in the 7.9-inch iPad mini, and 9.7-inch iPad Air sizes, and releasing a larger screen model could boost iPad sales for at least a couple quarters.
Introducing a new Apple TV model will be welcome, especially since it the current model was introduced in March 2013. Mr. Um said,
We believe Apple could potentially release an updated Apple TV with streaming TV capabilities. It is believed that Apple plans to offer a streaming TV service starting in 2016 with a monthly subscription starting at $40/per month. While a subscription-based TV service should strengthen recurring sales and margins, we believe it is too early to tell whether it will be a catalyst to Apple's valuation.
In other words, Mr. Um isn't seeing any announcements coming that have a material impact on Apple's bottom line.
Apple is hosting a media event on Wednesday, September 9, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The media invitations Apple sent out also included the tag line, “Hey Siri, give us a hint.”
The venue is large enough to hold 7,000 people, but Apple most likely isn't planning on packing that many journalists and bloggers into the space. Instead, Apple could be setting up large scale displays for HomeKit smarthome demonstrations and CarPlay-equipped cars.
The Mac Observer will be at Apple's media event, so be sure to check in with us on Wednesday, September 9, for our live coverage and analysis.
Mr. Um is maintaining his target price range between $92 and $135 for Apple's stock, along with his “Outperform” rating. Apple is currently trading at $109.40, down 0.97 (0.88%).