UBS: Apple TV Could Be Worth $100 Billion

Sell-side analysts’ reports are only interesting to me when one of them sticks their neck out and makes an outlandish call that forces me to think about a stock in a whole new way.  This morning, UBS analyst Maynard Um did just that with Apple ($AAPL)…

From All Things Digital:

At $328 billion, Apple’s market capitalization is the second largest among US companies. How much higher can it go? Plenty — particularly if the company launches that Internet-connected HDTV it’s rumored to be developing.

UBS analyst Maynard Um says Apple stands to gain an incremental $50 to $100 billion in market capitalization if it pulls off a successful television set offering — one that inspires the same sort of consumer rabidity as the iPhone and iPad.

How great would it be if Apple nails this television vertical and proceeds to put every cable television company on the defensive.  I’m pretty happy with Verizon’s FiOS service at home, it does everything I want it to do.  But the cost is ridiculous, I think the cable/phone/internet bill is higher than my utility bill some months.

This is not to say that an Apple offering in the space would be drastically cheaper, but if it offered a la carte programming, the Holy Grail of the Cable Customer, it would force the incumbents to get a lot more customer-friendly in their pricing and choices.

To be sure, this kind of threat to the cable companies is a ways off.  Head over below to read about the challenges UBS thinks Apple will face to make this a reality.

Source:

Apple Television: A $100 Billion Opportunity (All Things D)

Tags: $AAPL $UBS $VZ $CMCSA $CVC