Apple Analysts Recap Spring Loaded: Why Podcast Subscriptions Are Significant, AirTags A Sleeper Hit, iPad Pro Blurs Line Between Mac, iPad – Benzinga

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled Tuesday the long-awaited AirTag product, and also announced product upgrades and new services at its Spring Unloaded event.

Here’s what four Apple stock analysts and experts had to say. 

Munster Says Apple’s Rollouts Add 3% To Topline: Although individually the announcements do little to move Apple’s top line, in aggregate they are material and could add an incremental 3% to overall revenue, Loup Ventures managing partner Gene Munster said in a note.

The price changes suggest demand for the Mac and iPad remains favorable and margins is likely to remain flat to higher, he said.

The overhauled iMac boasts a slimming design, color addition, better cameras, mics and speakers for Zoom calls and a Touch ID keyboard option, Munster said.

Apple is using the color-as-a-feature argument for upping the price by $200, especially for yellow, orange and purple models, which is good for margins, he said.

The iPad Pro is now more of a Mac than an iPad, and with the right keyboard, it gives the flexibility of both laptop and tablet, Munster said. 

He’s of the view that AirTags can be a “sleeper hit.”

Over the next five years, the AirTag will become a must-have and ultimately account for 1%-2% of overall revenue, he said. 

Air Tag will differentiate from Tile, the currently available tracking device in the market, with better navigation and discovery features, along with a 1-billion-plus device network that can be utilized to help locate lost items, Munster said.

Podcast Subscriptions are a significant announcement given that Apple now has the first global podcast marketplace, Munster said. Apple will likely adopt a sliding scale subscription take rate model, keeping 30% in the first year and 15% in subsequent years, he said. 

Though not significant from a revenue perspective, it is an important category to maintain leadership in given that podcasts will play an increasing role in consumers’ lives, according to the Loup Ventures managing partner.

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Apple Podcast Subscriptions Excite Needham: Of all the new hardware introductions, Apple’s new Podcasts Subscriptions excite Needham the most, analyst Laura Martin said in a note. 

Podcast Subscriptions is a better premium product fit with Apple’s core consumers, and it has the potential to lower churn across 100% of Apple’s devices, the analyst said.

The product adds a new global total addressable market upside while also adding a new subscription revenue stream and bundling opportunity, she said. 

Apple should be valued as an ecosystem company, with its seamless integration of hardware, software and content, Martin said.

“Proprietary content integrated into AAPL’s devices lower its customer acquisition costs and churn, and maximize lifetime value inside AAPL’s ecosystem, we believe.”

AirTags Good For Location, Tracking Tech, Roth Says: Among the key announcements were the long-awaited AirTags, the debut of 5G in the iPad and microLEDs in the Liquid Retina HDR displays, Roth Partners analyst Scott Searle said in a note. 

“While not earth shattering, we view the AirTags as prescient for the development of the location and tracking ecosystem,” the analyst said.

It represents a stylish upgrade from the Tile and uses low Bluetooth energy that can provide one year of normal operation before requiring a battery replacement, he said. 

Ultimately, tracking is likely to extend from BLE to cellular-based solutions for larger, more mobile items and assets such as children and pets, Searle said.

LTE Cat M or NB IoT solutions are a natural extension for Apple and other consumer electronics providers to evolve the technology further, the analyst said. 

The debut of the 5G-enabled iPads is indicative of the increasingly connected economy, according to Needham. 

What’s Changing With Apple’s iOS 14.5?  Apple announced at the event iOS 14.5, which will be made available to consumers starting April 26, MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni said in a note. 

“Apple’s App Tracking Transparency privacy policy, which includes a set of policies around how consumers’ data can be used for advertising targeting and measurement, will be enforced in iOS 14.5,” the analyst said.

All apps will have to request a user’s permission to track them or to access their device’s advertising identifier, he said. 

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