A new analyst note today from Barclays covers Apple’s efforts and potential in the connected home market. While the firm expects Apple will be a major connected home player, it believes Apple will struggle to create more revenue from this part of its business.
The latest note from Mark Moskowitz, Daniel Gaide, and Chang Liu at Barclays focuses on three main aspects of Apple’s iOS/HomeKit/Siri connected home efforts. The analysts don’t expect the upcoming HomePod to be a “vital component”.
The seconds aspect of Apple’s approach is expanding its partnerships with both developers and third-party manufacturers, which seems like it has been a long road from a consumer perspective, but no doubt takes time.
Lastly, the note shares the forecast that if Apple can continue to increase its presence in the connected home market, it will increase the loyalty of its customers who will want to stick with the iOS ecosystem.
But even so, Moskowitz and company share doubt that Apple will be able to translate greater loyalty and a stronger connected home presence into increased revenue.
While Barclays keeps its AAPL target price at $146, about 11% below the current $162.92 (due to iPhone 8/Edition concerns) recent data suggests that customer loyalty will eliminate resistance to a $1,000 iPhone price tag.
