rumors

May bloggers expect Apple  to unveil its long-awaited streaming music service during the World Wide Developers Conference next week. Is this wishful thinking, or will the rumors turn out to be accurate?

"There are plenty of radio services out there right now, so clearly there is a market for it, and that is where the market is moving for at least a segment of the marketplace," BGC analyst Colin W. Gillis told Benzinga.

Gillis did not want to speculate about whether the company will or won't announce a music service next week, but said that it is "very reasonable that Apple would want to participate in that" market.

ABG Sundal Collier analyst Per Lindberg is not convinced that iRadio will be unveiled next week.

"The iRadio and iWatch and iTV may come one day," he told Benzinga. "When Apple decides to unveil that, that is beyond my predictability. There's something the company will unveil next week, otherwise they wouldn't have a conference."

Even if Apple decides to unveil a radio service next week, some investors may remain on the sidelines.

Brett Golden, President and co-founder of "the chart lab" (a provider of quantitative advice solutions for retail and institutional investors), said that while iRadio could add a little something to earnings, he does not expect it to be groundbreaking by any means.

"That's not what is going to drive earnings," Golden told Benzinga. "How much does iTunes drive earnings? It's extremely meaningful in terms of any other company, but that's not what's driving the price of the stock or expanding the multiple. I don't think iRadio is going to expand the multiple either."

Golden said that the company needs to produce a revolutionary product or service that makes the consumer say, "I'm going to open my wallet and I'm going to buy this because I can't get it anywhere else."

"That's originally what the iPhone was and the iPad," he said. "But now the market is saturated and I can get the same technology basically almost anywhere else, maybe for cheaper. Is it as good? Maybe not. Maybe the quality is not as good. But that's why everybody is talking about, 'What are they going to do next?'"

Golden noted the hype for Apple's long-awaited television set, which has yet to materialize.

"Everybody has been talking for two years about the television and if they'll do something with the cable companies to provide something revolutionary, kind of like an ad hoc, a la carte programming," he said. "But I don't know."

Ultimately, Golden has serious doubts about Apple's near-term success.

"Throwing your money into Apple right now, you're going to kind of sit there, hope and pray, and that's not a great strategy," he concluded. "You're going to hope that the stock goes up because you're hoping that they come out with something revolutionary. For me, that's just not how I invest.

"The truth is, the longer you're in the market, the longer you're in a stock that doesn't work, the more risk you're taking."