UPDATE: JP Morgan Cuts PT to $20 on Spreadtrum Communications on Shifting Product Cycle

JP Morgan maintained Spreadtrum Communications SPRD with a Neutral rating and lowered the price target from $23.00 to $20.00. JP Morgan noted, "Spreadtrum is facing a product transition period, which will be vital in determining its future market share, ASP and maJP Morganrgins. According to Huaqiang Research, single-core/dual-core/quad-core chipsets will represent around 25%/50%/25% of ‘made-in-China' smartphone shipments in 2013, vs 80%/15%/5% in 2012. The company plans to introduce dual-core solutions in late 1Q/early 2Q and quad-core solutions in late 2Q/early 3Q. T-smart D98X using Spreadtrum's dual-core TD-SCDMA chipset SC8825 will likely be launched in early March, based on our checks with T-smart. … We cut Dec-13 PT from HK$23 to HK20, based on 9x 2013E P/E, given shortening product cycle." Spreadtrum Communications closed at $16.32 on Tuesday.