Verizon iPhone: A 'voracious appetite for Apple products'
By Frank Michael Russell
frussell@mercurynews.com
Posted: 02/04/2011 01:59:07 PM PST
Updated: 02/04/2011 01:59:20 PM PST
Today: An analyst says demand for the Verizon iPhone helps justify a higher stock price for Apple.
First-day sales for the iPhone 4 by Verizon Wireless customers show strong "pent-up demand" for the device, an industry analyst noted today.
"We believe this speaks to the potential trajectory of demand with Verizon in 2011," Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White wrote in an e-mail.
"This also provides just another example of why we believe the voracious appetite for Apple products is not yet reflected in the stock price," noted White, who has set a 12-month price target of $550 for Apple shares.
Verizon Wireless revealed this morning that it has suspended early sales for the iPhone 4. First-day sales Thursday were limited to the carrier's current customers. "In just our first two hours, we had already sold more phones than any first-day launch in our history," Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead said in a news release.
Verizon and Apple intend to resume sales on their websites Wednesday. According to Apple's site, customers can reserve a phone for pickup Thursday. In-person sales will begin at 7 a.m. Thursday at Apple and Verizon stores. The phone also will be sold at Best Buy and some Wal-Mart stores.
According to uSamp, a Los Angeles market research company that conducts online surveys, an estimated 26 percent of AT&T iPhone customers intend to switch to Verizon as soon as they can. The firm also found strong interest among Verizon's BlackBerry and Android for switching to the iPhone.
Apple stock finished regular trading today at $346.50, up $3.06, or 0.9 percent, from Thursday's closing price. Verizon Communications -- which owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless -- dropped 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $36.31.
