Long Apple Short the iKillers

I’m long Apple and short any company claiming to have a iPod, iPhone or iPad killer.  That includes practically every gadget maker on the planet.  I have quoted the following so many times I can almost repeat it in my sleep, “New Companies often Win Big in New Cycles while Incumbents Often Falter” – Morgan Stanley.  Apple turned the mobile industry upside down with the release of the iPhone in 6/07. All of the incumbents have been scrambling since that day.

Google has gotten a lot of pub from a NPD Group survey this week.  It claims that Android OS has edged out Apple’s OS for the number two position behind RIMM in U.S. smartphone market share.  Obviously, Apple has a different take:

This is a very limited report on 150,000 U.S. consumers responding to an online survey and does not account for the more than 85 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide, said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison.

Yes, I believe Android is a viable alternative to the iPhone OS. Yes, I believe there are some cool phones running Android.  That being said, I have no interest in buying Google’s stock until it can prove that it can make money giving away Android.  The “freebie” model is great for startups, but I believe that a company with $165B market cap should be able to create products that people are willing to pay for.  I would be more interested in Google if it pursued a merger with Sales Force (Google: Just Buy Salesforce Already!).

iKillers in the News this Week:

• Blackberry Tablet
• Garminphone
• Google/Verizon Tablet

Note: My stock positions change frequently. I may or may not be currently long or short stocks mentioned in article.  Follow me on Twitter, to stay current with my latest views.