Apple Computer Inc. may serve as its own wireless carrier if it delivers an iPod-based cell phone next year and rely on the company's network of retail stores to sell service contracts for the device, UBS AG said.
To operate as a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, Apple may partner with Cingular Wireless LLC to provide wireless service for a so-called iPhone, Benjamin Reitzes, a UBS analyst in New York, said today in a note.
Analysts have anticipated Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs will parlay the success of the iPod into new devices, including a combination music player and cell phone that works with its iTunes music software and online store. Apple has sold more 67.6 million iPods since 2001, and Jobs may be able to convince current iPod users to buy the iPhone, Reitzes said.
``Apple is embarking on another chapter in multiplying its revenue streams as it sells more accessories and cellular services,'' said Reitzes, the second-ranked computer analyst by Institutional Investor magazine. ``While there are number of challenges with an MVNO, Apple may be the best positioned of any player yet to make it work given its distribution, brand, installed base of iPods and software and iTunes integration.''
Reitzes rates the shares ``buy'' and doesn't own any.
Apple may announce the iPhone in March or April, relying on its network of 174 retail stores to promote the device, he said. The iPhone may include 4 gigabytes to 8 gigabytes of flash memory and a digital camera, Reitzes said, citing unnamed sources. If the Cupertino, California-based company sells 5 million phones in 2007 for an average selling price of $300, that would add $1.5 billion to Apple's sales, he said.
Shares of Apple fell $2.61, or 2.9 percent, to $86.14 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has gained 20 percent this year.
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