Out Fox The $treet

Summary Xiaomi is increasingly becoming a threat to Apple outside China. Long-term growth potential in Asia appears capped to very high-end users. Regardless, Apple's stock offers the potential for market type gains. The biggest problem facing Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) long-term is that it's losing the competitive gap to mid-level smartphone and tablet makers. The company has a very loyal following likely to continue to purchase the high-end devices for the quality of the phone and the brand identification, but the growth potential could be limited without the ability to expand the market in emerging markets. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The confluence of the startup of the China Mobile ( CHL ) relationship, Carl Icahn pushing for corporate moves, and the December quarterly earnings report places Apple ( AAPL ) stock on a high alert for Monday. Investors appear reluctant to give the stock a market multiple on fears that it is losing its technological lead though it appears to have several catalysts to propel it forward in the next few years. In fact, it's very possible that the Icahn proposal would solve the major issue of large numbers that might be holding the stock back as much as anything. China Mobile The pre-order sales for China Mobile weren't nearly as many as expected, but the recent speculation that Apple is preparing larger display phones combined with news from the Apple CEO that it maintains a 57% mobile browser market share sets it up for a large ramp in China by fiscal year 2015. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review the disclaimer page...

The official launch of the Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone products with China Mobile ( CHL ) provided some interesting and surprising stats. China Mobile has long been coveted as a supplier for Apple considering it has the largest mobile user base in the world at around 750 million customers. Considering the lack of market share in China, it was shocking to hear Apple CEO Tim Cook discussing a 57% share of mobile browsing traffic in that country. It is almost mind boggling that Apple could generate a market leadership in actual Internet usage considering the lack of direct phone sales in China due to not having China Mobile as a customer. Business Insider provided a recent chart showing that the global mobile web browser market share was roughly that same 57%, even though Android has an 80% market share of smartphones sold. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The standard response by the media and traders is that a low cost iPhone and signing up of China Mobile ( CHL ) as a customer will send Apple ( AAPL ) margins cratering. Even the Options Action crew on CNBC Friday night immediately returned to the same old theory that a lower cost phone automatically means lower margins. Even if the phones create lower margins, it isn't necessarily bad if it helps garner market share for the iOS and traffic for the app store and iTunes. Investors without kids or ones that missed what happened in the PC race in the early days probably don't realize or remember that the lack of a low cost option kept many consumers out of the crucial Apple ecosystem. Another concern should be these consumers going to the Android operating system due to the lower cost that may never return to the iOS once snarled in that platform. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details...

Just last year Apple ( AAPL ) appeared set to win the race amongst a group of select tech stock to reach $1,000. Though the company had become the largest valued stock in the world, it still was competing with Google ( GOOG ) and Priceline ( PCLN ) to be the first to reach the magical $1,000 mark. Clearly reaching such a figure is partially the function of not splitting the stock, but it also is indicative of truly fast growth. With Apple plunging to below $400 in early 2013, most investors probably don't even consider it has having a chance to even reach $1,000 period much less beat Google to that number with it trading at $890. Typically those are the stocks discussed in that race to $1,000, but it actually appears that Priceline will easily win the contest with it now trading near $960. Time will tell so let's review the possibilities as the probability of reaching that magical figure is higher than most think these days. Read the full article at Seeki...

Now that the majority of investors have given up on Apple ( AAPL ), new investors finally have an opportunity for a solid investment with plenty of catalysts . Several indicators including reduced trading volume and even a greatly reduced number of articles published on Seeking Alpha provide general indications that the investment community has largely given up on the smartphone and tablet leader. As investors lost interest in the stock at the beginning of 2013, the company finally generated numerous catalysts as the year heads towards the back to school and holiday shopping season. The major product catalysts include a much discussed China Mobile ( CHL ) deal, the updated iPhone 5 release, a cheap iPhone version, and several other initiatives such as a watch or a TV. Another mostly ignored catalyst is a dramatic reduction of the share count via the large stock buyback program. Most investors overlook the earnings kick from the reduced shares. Read the full article ...