ISI Group Reiterates Strong Buy Rating, $600 PT on Apple on New iPhone Opportunity

In a report published Tuesday, ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall reiterated a Strong Buy rating and $600.00 price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).In the report, ISI Group noted, “It has been several quarters since we published our proprietary global carrier model for AAPL (referred to as our ‘TTP' or ‘theoretical threshold of penetration' analysis which was first referenced in our note dated Mar-15-2012. The updated raw statistics are impressive (e.g., AAPL currently has ~280 total carrier partners across over 100 different countries with a collective total wireless subscriber base of ~4.0 billion of which nearly 30% are postpaid subs). Once again, the postpaid subscriber penetration rates usually corresponded with a country's per capita level per the CIA World Factbook (e.g., among the highest included the U.S. at ~85% and ~$51k and Sweden [~80%/~$42k] and the lowest included China [~5%/$9k] and India [~3%/$4k]). In general, AAPL's global carrier partner base continues to grow despite a couple glaring holes which will hopefully be patched soon (e.g., the world's largest carrier China Mobile [CHL, ~$220bil market cap] with ~740mil wireless subs and Japan's NTT DoCoMo with ~62mil subs).”Apple closed on Monday at $467.36.