Amazon And Best Buy Should Benefit From Apple's New Devices

As the markets attempted to digest Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) historic “Special Event,” which featured the unveiling of several new devices—including the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, investor attention quickly shifted to the other companies that could stand to benefit from sales of the new products.

Of these, it seems that electronics-heavy retailers would be the most logical winners, besides Apple, in the wake of today’s event. This, of course, includes brick-and-mortar giants like Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) , as well as e-commerce behemoths like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) .

“Anytime you have a new iPhone, typically with a high-profile launch, it drives store traffic, sales and overall interest in the consumer electronics space,” Loop Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba told The Street on Thursday.

And Apple certainly gave customers plenty to get excited about. First, the tech pioneer debuted the third generation of its popular wearable device, the Apple Watch Series 3. The new Apple Watch will feature built-in cellular capabilities, a 70% faster processor, and several new bands (also read: What You Need To Know About The New Apple Watch Series 3).

On top of this, Apple also revealed its new Apple TV device, which will include 4K and HDR compatibility. Apple that the Apple TV 4K library will soon feature all of the 4K content from Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon Prime, as well as live sports streaming (also read: New Apple TV Offers Live Sports, Netflix & Amazon 4K Content Coming to iTunes).

Of course, the biggest announcements today were the two new iPhone devices that Apple unveiled. In line with its typical release schedule, Apple finally revealed the full details of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

And as a means of celebrating the tenth anniversary of its flagship smartphone, Apple also announced the iPhone X, an even slicker version of the device that it promised was the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone (also read: Everything You Need to Know About the iPhone 8 and iPhone X).

If these devices prove to be extremely popular, and they very well should be, Apple is obviously the big winner here. In fact, the speculation surrounding these releases has been a big part of AAPL’s nearly 37% year-to-date gain.

However, Amazon and Best Buy could stand to receive some serious residual gains. Not only do these companies get a cut when shoppers use their platform to buy a device, but they also get the added benefit of accompanying impulse buys.

For example, a shopper who decides on buying a new $999 iPhone X in a Best Buy store will likely also consider picking up a protective case or an additional pair of headphones. In the past, we’ve seen iPhone releases result in noticeable increases in electronics retail activity.

Still, investors appear hesitant to start the iPhone X party too soon. Apple and Amazon shares moved into the red following the event, although Best Buy did finish an impressive 1.5% higher on Tuesday.

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