Wedbush’s Dan Ives: here’s what to expect from Apple’s developers conference

Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, was on CNBC to discuss what to expect from Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) annual worldwide developers conference. The event, to be held virtually, starts today and will end on Friday.

Shares of Apple were flat today. The stock has had a sluggish performance year-to-date dropping 2.7% since the start of the year. According to the 38 analysts that cover the stock, the average price target on Apple is $159.85, implying an upside of nearly 27% from the current levels.

The conference is significant

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The conference is happening while Apple has been embroiled in an ongoing legal dispute with the video game developer Epic Games after its popular video game app ‘Fortnite’ was removed from the App Store. Apple maintains that Epic breached the developer contracts due to which the app was taken off.

Against that backdrop, Apple needs to lay out its future plans to the developers. Harping on the importance of the developer conference, Ives said:

“This comes at a pivotal time. It’s really Cook and Cupertino showing software developers the path forward and laying the groundwork for the next stage of growth.”

The App Store has 1.8M total apps and 28M+ registered developers. About 30% of Apple’s service revenue comes from the App Store. So, it’s critical to the tech giant’s financial performance and growth.

What to expect from the conference?

Apple is expected to unveil major software upgrades for its devices including iOS 15 for the iPhones.

Ives said that the analysts, including himself, will try to connect with the developers attending the conference to understand their views on iOS 15, to find out if they see a way forward and if they think got what they wanted.

Developers are frustrated with Apple sometimes as the company holds the key to the kingdom.

From the hardware perspective, Apple has made strong upgrades across its product lineup of macs, iPhones, iPads and watches. Ives said:

“We believe this will be the strongest iPhone year Apple has ever had.”

Ives believes right now is a golden opportunity to buy Apple. He expects the company to reach a valuation of around $3 trillion in an year’s time from the current $2.1 trillion.