TheStreet.com TV Recap: Apple Schools the Competition

As students head back to school, they're chatting up all things Apple (AAPL Quote - Cramer on AAPL - Stock Picks) -- iPods, iPhones and so on. And it's that buzz that makes Apple the ultimate back-to-school stock play, Jim Cramer said on a TheStreet.com TV video Tuesday.

Apple's biggest surprise in the coming quarter will be its success on the desktop, as it keeps battling for inroads against the PC. "Apple guided very low for the next quarter," Cramer said. "The stock will run up as people realize the quarter will be better than expected."

As investors catch on to Apple's strength in the desktop, it will further solidify the company's standing as one of the must-own tech stocks, Cramer said. The franchise in too many areas is just too strong, as would-be competitors fall by the wayside. "They ought to give up; Apple is too powerful," Cramer said.

That's even after Apple's encountered some turbulence with its iPhone rollout on the AT&T network, effectively shutting off half the country, which would prefer different carriers, Cramer said.