Morgan Stanley analyst Rebecca Runkle claims that Apple will likely start selling a cell phone to fend off competition from telephone makers that are adding digital music players to their devices. Runkle wrote that an iPhone could generate $1.2 billion in sales and add 9 cents a share to 2006 in earnings. “We believe market share and new product opportunities accelerate even more than we expected in 2006.”
The Motorola ROKR/E1 was released in September, but has been seen as a failure by many. High return rates coupled with low sales put doubt on wether Apple’s relationship with Motorola will continue. There has been a buzz that Apple might hook up with Nokia, but again, nothing seems to have come of that. Motorola is still expected to release more phone with iTunes in the new year, that could be the make or break moment for the 2 companies.
