In a note to clients — as reported by “Barron’s” (http://macte.ch/zDUOf) — Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkey says 2012 is going to be a “strong” year for Apple.
He’s predicting: a MacBook Air refresh, probably with a 15-inch screen; an “iPad 3” this spring; an iPhone with LTE connections “by mid-year; and possibly an “Apple TV” as the year ends. He also thinks that ultrabooks will continue to struggle against the iPad and, moreso, the MacBook Air.
“While Ultrabooks grabbed many of the headlines at CES, we view Ultrabooks as a Windows alternative to MacBook Air,” Walkey says. “We believe Apple will continue to gain PC market share by launching a refreshed MacBook Air line in the coming weeks […] Further, we believe Ultrabooks at proposed $700- $900 prices will struggle to sell versus competitively priced new MacBook products, as we believe Apple will continue to benefit from its supply chain advantages such as dominant share of the global NAND flash market given growing volumes for iPhones and iPads.”