Since the introduction of the first iPhone in the mid-2000s, the Cupertino-based group’s success has continued unabated.
(Photo: Reuters)
San Francisco At the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, the cheers are likely to have been meager when Apple became the first company in the world to reach a market value of more than three trillion US dollars on Monday. Because since the beginning of the pandemic, the technology manufacturer’s employees have been working from home – and that for an indefinite period of time.
But that didn’t affect the company’s success in the past year. In 2021 alone, Apple’s stock rose 34 percent. In less than a year and a half, the group, under the leadership of CEO Tim Cook, gained around one trillion US dollars in market value. Apple took the first trillion mark in August 2018.
The immense price increase is mainly due to the great popularity of Apple products. After the group had slipped to the brink of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s after years of mismanagement, the recovery began in the early 2000s with the production of the very successful iPod MP3 player.
But it was not until a few years later that Apple was able to shake off its reputation as a penny stick with the iPhone: In 2007, the group revolutionized the smartphone market, which was still very young at the time, with the introduction of a touchscreen that was the first of its kind to be operated with multiple fingers at the same time – during that time As a result, top dog Nokia rapidly lost its importance.
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As a result, Apple developed into one of the most important smartphone manufacturers in the world. According to data from the market research company IDC, the Korean competitor Samsung, with a market share of around 20.8 percent, is well ahead of Apple with 15.2 percent, followed by the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, which has a market share of around 13.4 percent.
But the group from Cupertino earns more money than the competition with its devices, which are usually much higher priced. This also includes other electronic products such as tablets, laptops and smart speakers for a long time. In the third quarter alone, the group turned over around 83.4 billion US dollars. The bottom line was a net profit of $ 20.6 billion.
For the fourth quarter, which is likely to be heavily influenced by the Christmas business, analysts expect excellent figures again. For example, in his latest study, JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee emphasizes on the one hand increased demand for the iPhone 13 and on the other hand the fact that the group has so far got the industry-wide disruptions in the chip and smartphone supply chains under control.
The industry expert sees the fair value of the stock at 210 US dollars – and is thus still well above the current price, which after crossing the three trillion dollar mark by three percent to temporarily up to 182.88 US dollars had gained.
DZ Bank analyst Ingo Wermann also sees price potential. Shortly before the turn of the year, he raised his target price to 205 US dollars, emphasizing above all the medium to long-term prospects for the group. Both analysts are therefore in line with the trend: of eleven, five currently recommend the share as a buy, while another five recommend it to hold.
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