China Unicom announced on Friday that it would begin selling the iPhone on October 1st of this year, news that helped send shares in Apple higher than the $180 per share target Mr. Reid had previously maintained.
While he thinks Apple will eventually release a touch screen tablet in 2010, he was more interested in the shorter term prospects of a strong holiday season for the company’s Mac line.
Barron’s reported Mr. Reid wrote, “We instead focus on the prospects for Apple to launch lower price point ($800-900) MacBooks within the next 30-45 days. We believe there is a high likelihood Apple will fortify its entry into the holiday season and that such a move will be a positive for AAPL shares.”
Apple has not yet announced such a product, of course, but the company did make room in its lineup earlier this year by moving the 13″ aluminum MacBook into the MacBook Pro line of laptops, complete with a feature list more in keeping with the Pro monicker.
Since then, the sole MacBook being offered is the previous generation white plastic-cased MacBook, which the company sells for $999. A new model with a price reduction in the $800-$900 range could boost sales for the company during the holiday quarter.
Shares in AAPL traded higher Monday to close at $186.1519 per share, up $3.7819 (+2.07%) in moderately light volume of 12 million shares trading hands.
*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.