Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock closed in the 520’s Friday evening as rumors continue to circulate. Seems like business as usual for tech stocks these days.
But according to a recent report by Forrester Research, Apple (AAPL) will still see strong business in the corporate consumer market even though buying in general will be sluggish. CNET’s Lance Whitney reports that Forrester claims Apple is “one vendor who will buck this trend,” and that “Unless the vendor’s name is Apple, or perhaps Lenovo, the computer equipment market will still struggle in 2013.”
Coprorate spending on computers fell 4 percent globally in 2012 according to this report, and Forrester predicts that spending will remain flat as companies slowly replace old Windows PCs with Windows 8 devices—but this may be a premature assumption considering how many consumers are either not impressed or not enthused by the interface.
Forrester also considers a potential 4 percent growth to cover the loss in the PC market to growth in tablets and eyes an 8 percent growth in 2014 as the economy improves and businesses look to upgrade their equipment, but also predicts that this growth will be less than double digit increases projected for Apple, Linux and Android products.
The improved Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stylus rumor passing through the mill this week may have some practical application. Cregle, an independent firm that originally created the iPen for iPads, is now working on a pressure sensitive iPen2 that will allow a user to write on an iMac as well. A Kickstarter project is currently in the works to drum up enough scratch to develop it and looks to bring in $360,000 by February 5, eying an estimated delivery date of June. A lack of supported apps currently plagues the original iPen, so hopefully this product and a converging app market will help to drive more overall Apple revenue.
What’s markedly different about this iteration of the iPen is that a standalone calibration app will be made available to developers, enabling them to focus on other compatibility tasks. Its pressure sensitivity will also allow the end user to use the stylus more like a ball-point pen, being able to control the “digital ink” with pressure from the hand. Should the Kickstarter campaign be successful, the driver will come with advanced features, a stand will be created for the pen and the maker will also be able to mass produce customized parts.
In other Apple news, fans will soon get to see Ashton Kutcher portray the legendary Apple leader in the upcoming Apple biopic “jOBS,” as it will be released in April. The film, spanning the years 1971 through 2000—will cover the founding of Apple, Jobs’ ouster, the forming of NeXT and Pixar, and finally his triumphant return to Apple when it acquired NeXT.
The film will premiere at Sundance later this month and I, personally, can’t wait for the reviews to filter in—for better or for worse.
What are your thoughts on the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) “pen” and on Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs? Let me know in the comments! I always enjoy a good discussion.
