Why Apple will hit $250 by December 2008?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index, and the number one innovator.

Here are five reasons on why we believe Apple stock will be worth $250 by December 2008:

1. Apple is grossly undervalued. Apple stock has declined much faster relative to the overall market. Once the market rebounds, Apple stock will also appreciate, albeit exponentially. We believe such a rise in Apple stock will begin in Summer 2008.

2. Apple is on track to sell at least 10 million iPhones in 2008. This we believe is on the low end of the estimate. Once Apple reduces iPhone pricing further (we believe this will happen in Summer 2008), Apple will sell closer to 12 million iPhones in 2008. Apple will also innovate the tap keyboard tool on the iPhone and provide an automatic landscape view to type in emails and text messages. This would create a bigger following for iPhone. Finally, Apple iPhone software will get better for corporate emails.

3. Apple iPod sales will build momentum in Summer 2008 and second half of 2008. With the base iPod shuffle now available for only $49, Apple iPod sales will jettison. The bold drop of $30 in price of the base iPod will create a jump of at least 15% to 20% in iPod sales in 2008 - higher than what the analysts are expecting.

4. Apple MacBook Air will be a runaway winner in laptops in 2008. Apple is poised to increase its growing marketshare in the PC business with the new MacBook Air, and the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models will also help. Before Summer 2008, Apple will reduce the entry prices on all their laptops to create hyper growth in laptop sales. On the other hand, the Mac business will come onto its own in 2008.

5. Apple iTunes Movie Rental business combined with the American Idol music are your dark horses for 2008. Apple will show sustained growth in the movie rental business, and we believe this will begin to show top line difference towards late 2008. Next generation Apple TV and iPod Touch should also help drive more sales iTunes Movie Rental.

Apple stock will be worth at least $150 by Summer 2008, will pick up steam and rise to $200 by Fall 2008, and close out the year over $250. The only caveat is the overall health of the retail economy worldwide.

Disclaimer: Innovation Index Group, Inc. invests in Apple and Top Innovators of The Innovation Index.

Creativity And Innovation in Business eBook

Creativity And Innovation in Business eBook is a 212-page collection of my handpicked 56 Creativity and Innovation best practices, case studies, articles, interviews, and insights on the current state of innovation in business as published on my award-winning Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog. The eBook provides real-world examples on how the Top Innovators including Apple, Google, GE, Proctor and Gamble, Yahoo, Toyota, Netflix, BMW, Deloitte, Timex, Frito Lays, Johnson & Johnson, Tata, BMW and more innovate and grow their business successfully time and again, especially during trying times. Use this eBook as a guide to find and create game-changing innovations, unblock creativity, and make innovation successful at your business.

Your contribution of only $9.99 towards buying the eBook will help support the no-nonsense mission of this blog: to provide collective experiences, best practices and insights on Creativity and Innovation driving Business, ask questions and obtain answers on generating, managing & growing Creativity and Innovation through proven processes, and report case studies, ideas & stories on Top Innovators of The Innovation Index creating Disruptive Innovations and growing Market Leadership."

Download the Creativity And Innovation in Business eBook Now

Table of Contents of Creativity And Innovation in Business eBook


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 - The Top 50 Innovative Companies In The World
Chapter 2 - The Innovation Index - Top 20 Innovators
Chapter 3 - Measuring Business Innovation Success - Key Benchmarks
Chapter 4 - Failures And Stumbles Driving Innovation - Five Takeaways
Chapter 5 - Blocking Creativity And Innovation - Nine Processes
Chapter 6 - Six Ways To Find Innovation - "See with new eyes"
Chapter 7 - Five Principles For Successful Business Innovation
Chapter 8 - Is Innovation Cyclical? - Four Common Blunders
Chapter 9 - Can Leadership Create Innovation? - Ten Leadership Ideas
Chapter 10 - Top Ten Creative Leadership Traits - Be The Leader and Innovator
Chapter 11 - Creating Team Innovation - Seven Characteristics
Chapter 12 - Creating Team Innovation - Effective Teams Examples
Chapter 13 - Creating Team Innovation - Ten Principles To Unleash Innovation
Chapter 14 - The Future Of Management, Creativity And Innovation - Upend Business Models
Chapter 15 - How Much Creativity Is Enough?
Chapter 16 - Co-Creation Driving Innovation At Top Innovators
Chapter 17 - Marketing Innovation Creating Market Leadership
Chapter 18 - Consumer Innovation Best Practices - Six Steps To Lead Innovation
Chapter 19 - The Innovation Gap - Disruptive Innovation versus Sustaining Innovation
Chapter 20 - Are Children More Creative Than Adults?
Chapter 21 - Questions Lead To Creativity, Answers Lead To Innovation
Chapter 22 - Expanding Your Business Innovation Capacity
Chapter 23 - Innovation Insights And Wisdom From Greatest Innovators
Chapter 24 - Turn Complaints Into Solutions, Innovations And Success
Chapter 25 - Why Some Ideas Survive And Others Die
Chapter 26 - Ten Answers For Driving Innovation And Growth At World Class Innovators
Chapter 27 - Strategic Innovation At Deloitte - The "Apple" Of Services Innovation
Chapter 28 - Toyota's Innovation Factory
Chapter 29 - Ipod - Apple's Best Innovation
Chapter 30 - Apple Iphone Rising - Top Ten Innovations
Chapter 31 - Google Versus Yahoo - A Tale Of Two Cities
Chapter 32 - Youtube - $1.65 Billion Innovation And Counting
Chapter 33 - Blockbuster Versus Netflix - Winner Takes All?
Chapter 34 - GE And P&G - Innovations Driving Growth & Six Growth Principles
Chapter 35 - Can Dell Turnaround Dell? Seven Thoughts For Turnaround
Chapter 36 - Innovations Brewing At Starbucks ? Five Takeaways
Chapter 37 - Southwest Airlines Flying High With Ten Innovations
Chapter 38 - Innovations At Microsoft - Four Business Pillars
Chapter 39 - Direct Marketing And Direct Mail Innovation At USPS
Chapter 40 - Disruptor Zune Versus Innovator Ipod
Chapter 41 - 100% Electric Ultra Fast Innovation - Tesla
Chapter 42 - Nike Versus Adidas - The Innovation Game Is On
Chapter 43 - People Innovation - We Think Culture Of Innovation
Chapter 44 - Intel - Exponential Innovations
Chapter 45 - Five Innovations In Software Industry - Intuit Case Study
Chapter 46 - Google Versus Microsoft - The Enterprise Battle Heats Up!
Chapter 47 - Launch Of Tata Nano - A Watershed Moment in Indian Autos
Chapter 48 - How Can GM Turnaround The Business? Is Innovation The Answer
Chapter 49 - Doubleclick A Smart Buy For Google
Chapter 50 - Microsoft Walk-Off Home Run With Aquantive
Chapter 51 - IBM's $5 Billion Cognos Acquisition
Chapter 52 - Top Acquisitions By The Top Innovators
Chapter 53 - Will Yahoo merge with Microsoft?
Chapter 54 - Innovation And Stock Performance Correlation
Chapter 55 - The Innovation Index Annual Report
Chapter 56 - $1 Billion Or The Future

Download the Creativity And Innovation in Business eBook Now

I am forever grateful to Creativity and Innovation Leaders, Innovators and Bloggers for helping me drive the readership on my blog, and I am looking forward to my blog readers and fellow blog writers downloading and referring this relevant resource on Creativity And Innovation in Business.

Good Luck Innovating!

Sincere regards,
Sanjay Dalal

Download the Creativity And Innovation in Business eBook Now

References:
http://creativityandinnovation.blogspot.com/2008/02/creativity-and-innovation-in-business.html

Apple iPod - Apple's Best Innovation

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the World's Number One Innovative Company, three years in a row according to BusinessWeek's 2007 list of the world's 50 most innovative companies. BusinessWeek proclaims "their creativity goes beyond products to rewiring themselves." BusinessWeek ranks the innovative companies based on the responses received from over 1,000 global executives of the largest global corporations; survey questions include innovation metrics on process, product and business model innovations.

Apple is one of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index.

According to BusinessWeek, innovation today is “much more than new products.” Innovation is also “reinventing business processes and building entirely new markets that meet untapped customer needs.” The ubiquity of the Internet and globalization of the business expand generation of new ideas. Innovation is then “selecting and executing the right ideas and bringing them to market in record time.”

iPod driving Apple to Number One Innovative Company

iPod, powered by Apple, introduced in 2001 and masterminded by Steve Jobs, combines outstanding design, easy-to-use interface, superb performance, and an experience like no other. Apple assumed the world’s number one innovative company position and held it again in 2006 in large part due to the exponential growth of iPod – aptly called the iPod phenomenon. Just ask the tens of millions of fans walking, driving, jogging, exercising, chatting, playing, humming, relaxing, singing, rocking, screaming, and above all enjoying their daily iPod experience. Imagine if they were to miss their iPod for a day, or even for a few hours. iPod is oxygen – pure and simple – the source of life for these millions of fans. Not to mention iPod has become associated with personal status and symbol that speaks of cool, hip, polished, and different. What began as a new product quickly became a revolution. iPod is by far the best commercial innovation the world has seen in the last few years, and perhaps is the best innovation from Apple dating back through its storied history of innovation firsts. Apple one-upped the iPod design innovation by creating new innovations in business model with the launch of iTunes online service enabled by strategic partnerships with the Music, TV and Movie industry.

A Glorious History of Innovations

Apple has created great innovations beginning with the first Apple computer in 1976, Graphical User Interface (GUI) along with the popular Macintosh introduced in 1984, the reliable PowerBook introduced in 1991, the PDA named Newton that created a new industry of handhelds in 1993, the new millennium revolution beginning with the iMac in 1998, the new iBook hot on the heels of the iMac in 1999, the iPod that put an oomph in the MP3 players and essentially changed music as we know it in 2001, iTunes software and Music store service that changed the Music industry business model and made it easy for fans to listen and buy music piecemealed in 2003, iPod mini, iPod (U2 Special Edition) and iPod photo in 2004, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod with Video and Mac Mini in 2005, the new iMac with Intel core Duo processors and the new MacBook with Intel processors in 2006.

Five years of iPod Innovations

2006 marks five years of iPod innovations. Apple's Hardware engineering chief Jon Rubinstein assembled a team of engineers to design and build the first iPod in less than a year, and it was unveiled by CEO Steve Jobs on October 23, 2001 as a Mac-compatible product with a 5GB hard drive that put "1,000 songs in your pocket." Since then, Apple has introduced fourteen different models of iPods in various colors, displaying photos, downloading and playing videos, branded and signed by U2, with numerous forms and shapes, different capacities for holding songs, pictures and videos, with connectors, next generation models with better wheels, and more. For instance, the new iPod video introduced in 2005 was the first iPod that could download and playback full-motion video with a larger color screen and better display resolution – an innovative package under $300 for the base model. Or the innovation in the wheel that is akin to the driving wheel on a car – from an original mechanical scroll wheel to the current touch-sensitive click wheel. According to PC Magazine, “In the years since (2001), the iPod's market share has grown tremendously, iPods have shrunk in size, Apple's iTunes Music Store has taken the lion's share of legal digital music downloads, and the iPod accessory market has exploded and taken on a life of its own. All this has made the iPod as synonymous with "MP3 player" as Kleenex is with facial tissues.”

The love for iPod

Why do people love iPod perhaps more than their spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or children? It has to do with the simple yet elegant design that makes it extremely easy-to-use (Toyota’s Innovation Factory), exceptional sound, video and imagery, and the amazing experience. The flexibility provided by the iTunes software and service that allows you to try and download any music and video with the click of a button from any computer or the Internet to your iPod. And all the available accessories from wireless headsets, remote controls, beautiful skins, acoustic speakers, to connectors that can literally take your iPod music and videos anywhere – inside the room, in the car, in the office, on the plane, even while taking shower. iPod fans can’t live without their iPods literally. And the search is still on for a music fan that has switched from an iPod to another MP3 player. And there is that small sharing thing: hard-core iPod fans don’t like to share their iPods with others. BYOiPod. Bring your own iPod.

iPod’s Topline

In the quarter ending September 2006, Apple sold 8.7 million new iPods, generating $1.5 Billion in sales, a third of Apple’s total quarterly sales. By the end of 2006, there will be over 67 million iPods in the world; Apple is poised to eclipse the 100 million iPods mark in 2007. iPod has revived Apple from the depths in 2001 when annual sales had plummeted to $5.36 Billion and Apple was losing money. Apple’s shares were under $10. Compare this to 2005, when Apple had sales of $13.9 Billion, and profits of over $1 Billion. Apple’s shares have climbed sixteen folds. The Apple machine is kicking into high gear, in large part due to iPod Innovation Revolution. iPod’s halo effect is even evident in the latest quarter when Apple sold more Macs than it has ever sold before: 1.61 million.

In 2007, Apple sold 52.7 million iPods, an increase of over 15% from the 45 million iPods sold in 2006. In the latest quarter ending December 2007, Apple sold 22.1 million iPods representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Can Apple grow iPods sales to over 20% in 2008? What strategy would Apple employ to lure more iPods buyers in 2008?

The next generation iPods

What innovations can be expected from iPod? Can Apple create jazzier, easier, feature-rich iPods?

How about iPods that beam songs and videos to each other, to a computer or even to a TV? Or iPods that deliver Presentations and Live Videos in team meetings. iPods with GPS Navigation system. iPods that combine as cell phones. iPods that can receive satellite radios. What innovations will Apple bring out next? Steve Jobs indicated in the latest quarterly earnings press release that 2007 will be an exciting year full of great new products. The world will be watching.

2008 Fast Forward

Apple Inc. added new models of iPod(R) touch after the success of iPod touch launched in 2007. The new models have "double the memory, doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can carry with them wherever they go."

iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299.

iPod touch features Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch(TM) user interface and pioneering software that allows users to find and enjoy all their music, videos, photos and more with just a touch of their finger. iPod touch models include the ability to automatically find your location using the new Maps application*; create Web Clips for your favorite websites; customize your home screen and watch movies from the new iTunes(R) Movie Rentals. iPod touch features the world's most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari(TM) and great mobile applications including Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes.

Apple had an outstanding 2007 - the stock price and market cap more than doubled and finished upwards of 130% owing to such game changing innovations including the new iPhone, the new iPod Touch, and the all new Mac OS – Leopard, and on the strengths of the growing iPod and Mac business.

Retail research firm NPD Group says Apple's iPods still maintain a lock on the top spot in U.S. sales of digital music and media players, with as much as 75% of the market.

Nike + iPod

One innovation that Apple created with another Top 20 Innovator of The Innovation Index, NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) is Nike Plus. Apple calls it the "ultimate synthesis of sport and music: a pair of Nike+ shoes, an iPod nano, and the Nike + iPod Sport Kit."

Nike+ shoes feature a built-in pocket under the insole specially engineered for the Nike + iPod sensor. iPod nano syncs a runner's complete workout data with both iTunes and nikeplus.com. The Nike + iPod Sport Kit allows an athlete's Nike+ shoe to talk to the iPod nano. The sensor uses a sensitive accelerometer to measure the activity, then wirelessly transfers this data to the receiver on your iPod nano.

Nike + iPod receiver fits securely into the Dock connector on the bottom of the iPod nano. Wirelessly connected to the sensor in your Nike+ shoe, it receives up-to-the-second information as you run.

As one runs, iPod nano tells you your time, distance, pace, and calories burned via voice feedback that adjusts music volume as it plays. In addition to progress reports, voice feedback congratulates you when you’ve reached a personal best — your fastest pace, longest distance and time, or most calories burned. Besides the voice feedback, iPod nano plays the workout songs you choose, or have the iPod nano choose it for you based on your workout. You can also choose to play PowerSong.

Nike+ has created a growing new business for Nike, and Nike even touts this in their earnings reports and press. Is Apple planning to make more deals with more athletic companies besides Nike for the iPod? We will find out in 2008.

Apple iPod - Apple's Best Innovation.

References:

BusinessWeek
PC Magazine
Apple-history.com
Apple.com
Wikipedia

Originally published October 23, 2006.
Updated February 09, 2008

Invest in the Innovation Index Fund

We launched the new Innovation Index Fund in December, 2007 that invests in the Innovation Index and returned 66% in 2007, and 174% in the previous five years. If you want to learn more about the Innovation Index Fund, fill out your contact information at the bottom of this form: http://www.innovationindexgroup.com/invest.html

The Innovation Index Reports:

Invest in The Innovation Index - Invest in the brand new Innovation Index Fund
Introducing The Innovation Index Fund - Invest into The Innovation Index
Top 50 Innovative Companies in the world - 2007 Report on Top 50 Companies
Annual Report - Chapter One - Total Innovation Activity - 2006 Annual Report One
Annual Report - Chapter Two - The Top Innovator - 2006 Annual Report Two
Annual Report - Chapter Three - The Innovation Insights - 2006 Annual Report Insights
Innovation and Stock Performance Correlation - The Innovation Index and Stock Performance
The Innovation Index gallops to 56% - Quarterly Report - Q3, 2007

About The Innovation Index

The Innovation Index introduced in December 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

The Innovation Index returned 66% in 2007, and returned 174% over the previous five years (2002-2006). This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index as of December 31, 2001. An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $454 as of December 31, 2007. By comparison, $100 invested in S & P 500 returned 28% or $129, $100 invested in NASDAQ returned 34% or $136, and $100 invested in the Dow Jones Index returned 30% or $131 through December 31, 2007. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by more than seven times over the past six years.

Alphabetical list of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index for 2008 and their stock ticker symbols:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
AT&T Inc. - (NYSE: T)
Best Buy Co., Inc. - (NYSE: BBY)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation - (NASDAQ: COST)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Merck & Co., Inc. - (NYSE: MRK)
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
NIKE, Inc. - (NYSE: NKE)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the Top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2008, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.

Disclaimer: The Innovation Index Group, Inc. invests in the stocks comprising The Innovation Index.

Apple introduces new iPhone and new iTouch


Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) today added new models of the iPhone(TM) and iPod(R) touch which have "double the memory, doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can carry with them wherever they go." In January, in my article on:
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Kicks Off 2008 with Bold New Innovations I discussed many of the new innovations at Apple and the impact.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index.

The revolutionary iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for $499, joining the 8GB model for $399. iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299.

Both iPhone and iPod touch feature Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch(TM) user interface and pioneering software that allows users to find and enjoy all their music, videos, photos and more with just a touch of their finger. All iPhone and iPod touch models include the latest software enhancements announced last month including the ability to automatically find your location using the new Maps application*; create Web Clips for your favorite websites; customize your home screen and watch movies from the new iTunes(R) Movie Rentals. Both iPhone and iPod touch feature the world's most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari(TM) and great mobile applications including Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes.

Bottomline:

More memory! Yes, both iPhone and iPod Touch users want this, and crave for this so that they can add all the songs, music, videos and more. But Apple may have priced the 32GB iPod Touch at $499 out of the market. This was a great opportunity for Apple to reduce the price by $50 for each of the iPod Touch, and effectively price the new iPod Touch at $399 instead. iPod Touch is perhaps the best iPod to date, and considering that Apple came a bit short last quarter on the total iPods sold (versus analyst expectations), Apple may need to price iPod Touch more aggressively. On the other hand, the new iPhone is priced right at $499, however should have come with 32 GB instead to keep it consistent with the iPod Touch. Apple customers will welcome the new iPhones and iPods.

Invest in the Innovation Index Fund

We launched the new Innovation Index Fund in December, 2007 that invests in the Innovation Index including Apple and returned 66% in 2007, and 174% in the previous five years. If you want to learn more about the Innovation Index Fund, fill out your contact information at the bottom of this form: http://www.innovationindexgroup.com/invest.html

The Innovation Index Reports:

Invest in The Innovation Index - Invest in the brand new Innovation Index Fund
Introducing The Innovation Index Fund - Invest into The Innovation Index
Top 50 Innovative Companies in the world - 2007 Report on Top 50 Companies
Annual Report - Chapter One - Total Innovation Activity - 2006 Annual Report One
Annual Report - Chapter Two - The Top Innovator - 2006 Annual Report Two
Annual Report - Chapter Three - The Innovation Insights - 2006 Annual Report Insights
Innovation and Stock Performance Correlation - The Innovation Index and Stock Performance

About The Innovation Index

The Innovation Index introduced in December 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

The Innovation Index returned 66% in 2007, and returned 174% over the previous five years (2002-2006). This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index as of December 31, 2001. An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $454 as of December 31, 2007. By comparison, $100 invested in S & P 500 returned 28% or $129, $100 invested in NASDAQ returned 34% or $136, and $100 invested in the Dow Jones Index returned 30% or $131 through December 31, 2007. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by more than seven times over the past six years.

Alphabetical list of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index for 2008 and their stock ticker symbols:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
AT&T Inc. - (NYSE: T)
Best Buy Co., Inc. - (NYSE: BBY)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation - (NASDAQ: COST)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Merck & Co., Inc. - (NYSE: MRK)
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
NIKE, Inc. - (NYSE: NKE)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the Top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2008, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.

Disclaimer: The Innovation Index Group, Inc. invests in the stocks comprising The Innovation Index.

References:

http://www.apple.com

Originally published at:
Apple introduces new iPhone and new iTouch