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Apple iPhone To ‘Steamroll’ BlackBerry, Says Ticonderoga


By Tiernan Ray

Ticonderoga Securities’s Brian White today writes that Research in Motion’s(RIMM) disappointing fiscal Q2 report last night and mixed outlook is a mixed bag for other companies in the tech universe.

It is a definite positive for Apple (AAPL), he thinks: “In our view, the fall of RIMM with its “too-little-too-late” BlackBerry refresh will continue to add to Apple’s momentum that we believe could be off the charts with the iPhone 5 launch.”

White rates Apple shares a Buy and has a $666 price target on the stock.

White thinks the introduction of Apple’s “iPhone 5,” which may happen in coming weeks, according to the latest rumors, will “steamroll BlackBerry 7 ramp,” while the lower-than-expected shipments of RIM’s “PlayBook” tablet computer last quarter show that the device in his opinion has become “another iPad casualty.”

“We believe it is only a matter of time before the iPhone and iPad challenge RIMM’s enterprise dominance.”

As for Celestica (CLS) and Flextronics (FLEX), two contract manufacturers that get 19% and 10% of sales from RIM, respectively, could benefit from the ramp up of the BlackBerry this quarter.

“RIMM’s November quarter shipment outlook (even if growth is one-half this guidance), appears much stronger than our EMS models suggest and could be interpreted as a positive for EMS partners.”

White rates Celestica a Buy but has a Sell rating on Flextronics.

Apple shares today are up $5.14, or 1.3%, at $398.05, while Celestica is down 21 cents, or 2.5%, at $8.19 and Flextronics is up a penny at $5.93.