Pre-Launch Apple iPhone Coverage

A couple more articles on the Apple iTunes phone this morning a hour before the launch. Bloomberg reports that Wall Street is more bullish on Apple's prospects with 18 analysts recommending the company's stock, up from 10 in December.

Alex Motola at Thornberg Investment Management said, "Apple shares are where you want to be. With Apple, you are not just buying a product, but a history of innovations. The dominance of the iPod is an added bonus."

On the impending launch, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster thought Apple might also update the iPod line, "including adding more memory to the low-cost shuffle, giving the iPod minis color displays and introducing a new design." In the long run, Munster believed, "It doesn't make sense that they supply Motorola and others with technology that could be a competitive threat to the iPod," Munster said.

The Chicago Tribune (registration required) covers the prospects for a Motorola/Apple/Cingular music phone. Albert Lin at American Technology Research commented it probably wouldn't generate a lot of extra revenue, but "Buyers of iTunes and iPods are the future ideal customers. Carriers will do everything to reach out to them. For a high-churn carrier like Cingular, this could be a good way to reduce churn," said Lin "Motorola has greater aspirations in music than just iTunes," Lin added.

Neil Strother at NPD Group remarked, "It's a no-brainer to do this, but whenever a new device comes in, every first generation has issues. I know the engineers have been working on this for years, but by adding cell phone function to iPod function, you wonder how long the batteries will last before they need charging. But regardless of the kinks we may see, if they have the right device at the right price, I think consumers are going to like it."