Last week, Raymond James analysts conducted a survey of 500 consumers in June, which showed that 14% of those surveyed fully intend to buy the HomePod/Beats wireless speakers. Investors need to keep in mind that the HomePod is not even available yet and, more than likely, will debut during the Christmas selling season toward the end of 2017. The survey found despite that fact, more consumers indicated their decision to purchase the HomePod and/or Beats wireless speakers than they did for Amazon's Echo.
In addition. the report from Raymond James found that there was high demand for the Apple Watch and for the AirPods (conceivably the hit product for last year's Christmas selling season). Finally, the analysts at the firm conclude that despite their expectations of flat iPhone sales in the June quarter, other Apple products like the Watch and AirPods could make up for the slack in the June quarter. Incidentally, AirPod demand is said to be exceeding supply by six months as per Raymond James.
Nice problem to have for Apple and Apple shareholders, no?
The survey further showed that 19% of those polled indicated they would buy an Apple home speaker system system (including Beats wireless speakers) compared to 16% of those that would buy an Amazon Echo. According to the analysts, 12% of those surveyed also indicated that they are in the market for an Apple Watch, the highest level seen by the Raymond James analysts thus far.
In another survey, this one by Canaccord, the findings showed that the iPhone sales were "improving in the (June) quarter," despite the introduction of new phone models from the likes of Google, Samsung and LG.
Canaccord's survey found that the U.S. smartphone market continues to be dominated by the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8 with the LG G6 disappointing on debut in North America. The analyst there added that the Google Pixel smartphone was "well received" but had a minimal impact on market share in the U.S.
The most important takeaway from the Canaccord survey was the following point on the Samsung Galaxy S8, which was released in April and as per the analyst, "We believe despite strong pre-orders, initial sell-through has started to fade and our surveys indicated steady iPhone demand that may have even improved in June following the initial strong S8 interest."
Of course, we remain in a negative environment for technology investments at the moment however almost always, that turns out to be the best time for investors to add to their positions or to open a new position in not just Apple but in every other tech company that is more than delivering the goods from an investment point of view.
(Long amzn, aapl, googl, long and short options in all)
