Apple Peeled as Street Sweats an iPod Delay

Shares of Apple Computer (AAPL Quote) were off 3% on Wednesday after an analyst lowered his price target on the stock and predicted the company would delay releasing updated versions of some of its iPod music players.

Analysts have been expecting Apple to update its top-of-the-line video-playing iPod and its flash memory-based iPod nano models before the holiday season this year.

But Apple likely will release the new nano about a quarter later than expected this year, and probably won't release the new video iPod until sometime next year, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said in a research note on Wednesday. Technological changes to both devices are prompting the delays, he said.

Wu didn't change his earnings or revenue estimates, citing strong sales of the company's current video iPod. But he lowered his price target on the stock to $75 from $101 to reflect higher risk and the market's recent selloff. ...