DealsOnTheWeb Daily Deal: OneCall's Weekend Sale - 20 Great Items at Great Prices All Weekend Long
Analyst: Apple Insulated from NAND Flash Price Increases
by , 8:45 AM EDT, July 12th, 2007
NAND Flash component pricing seems to have stabilized recently, which means companies can't count on dropping prices to help keep production costs down. Apple, however, is fairly well insulated from the change thanks to its practice of signing multi-quarter contracts for the memory used in the iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and iPhone, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.
"The vast majority of Apple's NAND flash buying is through multi-quarter contracts and is not impacted by changes in spot pricing," he said. "Apple has likely locked into contract pricing on NAND flash with Samsung for the next several quarters and, therefore, would be insulated from the recent changes."
Apple's deals with memory manufacturers also means that the company is more likely to be able to maintain a supply for product manufacturing -- something that some of its competitors may not be able to manage heading into the holiday buying season. Although Apple has been able to keep iPhones in only about half its stores, it is able to maintain a steady supply, and thanks to its buying practices will be in a better position to try to maintain that supply through the end of the year.
Looking forward, Mr. Munster expects that Apple will be releasing new iPod models that, like the iPhone, run OS X and include a touch screen interface. Mr. Munster commented "While Apple has been criticized for diversifying its product lineup, we believe Apple is focusing its offerings on the OS X software, which is used in Macs, Apple TVs, iPhones, and soon, iPods."
Mr. Munster is maintaining his "Outperform" rating and US$160 target price for Apple's stock. Apple is currently trading in the pre-market at $133.15, up 0.76 (0.57%).
If you are interested in Apple's stock, join our forum members in the Apple Finance Boards, a moderated forum for Apple Investors and people who are interested in Apple's financial dealings. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our updated Apple Stock Watch Special Report.
Observer Comments
Recent Headlines - Updated Saturday, September 6th, 2008
- Sat., 3:45 PM
- iPO Free on iTunes - Samurai Girl, Sonny Chiba, Tim and More
- Fri., 5:30 PM
- StrangeCharm - Particle Debris And No Soup For Microsoft (Week of Sep 1)
- 5:20 PM
- User Friendly Blog by Ted Landau - Best Buy Polishes its Apple
- 5:05 PM
- iPO The Back Page - Why Chrome? Think Apple
- 4:10 PM
- iPodObserver - Nokia Warns of Weaker Q3, Global Economy and iPhone are Factors
- 3:30 PM
- Apple Gaming News - Call of Duty 4 Embarks for Macs on September 15
- 2:30 PM
- iPodObserver - Some iPhone Users Experiencing Syncing Problems via USB 2 Hub
- 1:45 PM
- iPodObserver - TUNEWEAR Announces Clear Cases for iPhone 3G
- 1:10 PM
- iPodObserver - MTS, Largest Russian Wireless Carrier, Lands iPhone Deal
- 12:00 PM
- ATR: Low Expectations for Apple September 9 Event
- 10:10 AM
- Hot Forum Topic - Reader Reactions: Seinfeld Microsoft Ad
- 9:15 AM
- TMO Quick Tip - OpenDNS: Managing Your Internet Access
- 8:40 AM
- CamSpinner 2 Improves FTP, AppleScript Support
- 8:05 AM
- First Seinfeld Microsoft Ad Airs, Thin on Content
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
- OWC: Juice up your iPod w/NewerTech High Capacity Battery from $19.99 Free Installation Videos for most models. Pro Installation Service w/FedEx Shipping From $57.95 (Battery Included). - www.MacSales.com
MacPro Memory 667Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $ 82 / 4GB $128 / 8GB $256 - Click to Maximize your Macs...
Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.
RamJet Memory: Mac Pro FB-DIMMs: 2Gig kit $115, 4Gig kit $179, 8Gig kit for $355! 500G Seagate Hard Drive $129! Click hereFor the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.


