Jackass of the Week: Douglas A. McIntyre

Douglas A. McIntyre’s advice on how Apple could raise its stock price back to $200:

The next thing the company needs to do is set the date for a release of the 3G version of the iPhone. Citigroup’s research analyst covering Apple says to look for that announcement in the next two quarters. But, Apple almost certainly already knows the timetable. If the iPhone has an Achilles heel it is that it runs on a slow data network which handicaps users. A 3G version which would run on AT&T’s high-speed network would almost certainly lift iPhone sales and get people who currently own the handset to upgrade.

Sure, a 3G-capable iPhone with significantly faster data transfer would be good for sales: when it goes on fucking sale. What exactly does McIntyre think will happen to sales of current iPhones today in the wake of such an announcement? Apple has done really, really well for the past ten years with a general strategy of not talking about products until they’re ready to sell. The pre-announcement of the original iPhone is an obvious exception, but that didn’t eat into the sales of Apple’s own phones because they weren’t selling phones yet. Jiminy.

★ Monday, 18 February 2008