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Apple is going to make its big play for the living room this year, but don't expect the device to be called iTV, says Jefferies analyst Peter Misek. Instead, he suggests the much-anticipated television could be called “iPanel” to reflect its potential as a hub for gaming, media and more (and likely to avoid a costly naming rights deal with a U.K. television network), and more importantly it could arrive before the year is out.
Misek upped his price target on the stock to $800 Thursday, from $699, on the assumption that an Apple television, whatever the name, could produce a halo effect that leads to consumers picking up an iPad or iPhone along with the new TV.
Why is Misek more confident in an Apple TV launch this year and ready to start including it in his estimates? Three reasons:
1) Last week Hon Hai announced a $800M investment in Sharp, and Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou is spending $800M to buy half of Sharp's large-panel TV plant in Sakai. Hon Hai is a major shareholder of Taiwan panel maker Chimei Innolux, which has excess capacity. We believe the Hon Hai/Sharp deal is due to Sharp's increasing importance to Apple and iTV.
2) Our recent checks in Asia indicate that specialty components have begun to ship to Apple's Asia panel suppliers with polarized films, filters, and IGZO components starting to move in small quantities.
3) Our checks indicate that Apple is doubling the size of its already massive North Carolina data center.
Shares of Apple were up 1.1% to $631.45 Thursday. The Jefferies target increase follows similar moves elsewhere on the Street. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster upped his target to $910 earlier this week, and said the stock could hit $1,000 and produce a $1 trillion market cap as soon as 2014.