KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH
Apple's expected launch this week of a much rumored tablet computing device is expected to do for media what iTunes did for music and the iPhone did for telecommunications.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly expects the tablet to bring great leaps of innovation to the media industry by repackaging and reselling media content. In fact, the new device apparently aims to bring media efficiency to homes by enabling multiple users to read news, watch television and read emails. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been in negotiations with television networks like Walt Disney and CBS to come up with a monthly TV subscription service.
Additionally, the company reportedly has been in talks with the New York Times and NewsCorp to ink a publishing deal regarding books, newspapers and magazines.
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Thinking of investing in Apple?
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On the positive side, Apple is no stranger to devising new ways to access and pay for quality content. Recently, Apple's iTunes became the largest retail music provider. Quarterly revenue derived from the iTunes Store have more than quadrupled in the past four years.
Additionally, Apple's latest earnings report beat Wall Street's expectations, showing record revenue and a huge uptick in iPhone sales. With this in mind, it is likely that the tablet will revolutionalize and reshape the media industry and further bolster revenue at the innovative company.
Apple will likely face some of the same obstacles and hurdles that it did with the music industry and will have to demonstrate a consumer need for the Tablet. Additionally, some technology experts suggest that a lack of ebooks, which are found on Amazon's Kindle, could potentially deter a significant number of users.
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Investor Education:
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ETF investors can gain exposure to Apple with the following funds:
The iShares Dow Jones US Technology , which allocates 9.43 per cent of its assets to Apple and closed at $55.07 on Monday.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR , which allocates 8.3 per cent of its assets to Apple and closed at $21.84 on Monday.
The iShares S&P North American Technology , which allocates 7.54 per cent of its assets to Apple and closed at $51.79 on Monday.
When investing in these ETFs, it is important to keep in mind the inherent risks that are involved. To help mitigate these risks, it's important to use an exit strategy where price points representing abnormal price weaknesses are triggered.
According to SmartStops.net, the price points for the previously mentioned ETFs are: IYW at $53.92; XLK at $21.39; IGM at $50.78. These price points fluctuate on a daily basis and are reflective of market conditions and volatility.
Kevin Grewal serves as the editorial director and research analyst at The ETF Institute, which provides financial professionals with certification, education, and training pertaining to exchange-traded funds (ETFs). He also serves as the editorial director at SmartStops.net where he focuses on mitigating risks and implementing exit strategies to preserve equity.