Apple never fails to amaze me. I think it’s a strong company and have had an intention to buy shares for well over a year now. I first became interested at $122 and have followed them eagerly since then. My entry price you may be shocked to read is $50. So why do I believe they will reach anywhere approaching that?

Firstly I believe that while one man does not make a company CEO Steve Jobs has steered Apple through bad times and out the other end laughing. Very soon he will no longer be the CEO and chief operating officer Tim Cook will take over at the helm. Tim has a long track record in the industry but from my point of view he is a business man and not the visionary Jobs was. Cook believes the iPhone is ‘years ahead of the competition’ and in his capacity is patrolling the seas for intellectual property pirates. Now point one is that Apple is known for innovation and cutting edge design so if this is the new CEO isn’t he taking his eye off the ball slightly. Creating the trend is intrinsic to Apples future success.

Secondly as this downturn / whatever lexicon is in vogue at present gains momentum personal consumption will dry up. The size of the credit card debt is yet another one of those shoes to drop. While people may have splurged on the iPhone for Christmas its price will be prohibitive in the months going forward.

Lastly where will the new innovation come from and who lead the next wave. The genius of the iPhone was that it took many elements that competitors had and combined them into a nicely designed and more fundamentally easy to use device. If the intention is to just maintain and ease off developing its competitors like RIMM or even those coming from behind like my favourite LG will catch them by surprise.

The modern price conscientious customer is looking for the best product at the best price. Will Apple rise to the future challenges of creating the best products?

The share price may not reach $50 but it is unlikely to revisit $122 anytime soon either. The battle between $80 and $90 will eventually wear the eager for profit investor down and when push comes to shove my bet is that €50 is more plausible that $122.