Apple could raise annual ad income to $11 billion by 2025: JPMorgan

(Reuters) - The launch of Apple TV+, coupled with Apple Inc's foray into digital services, could help the company increase its income from advertising by more than five fold to $11 billion annually within the next six years, analysts from JP Morgan said on Friday.

Raising his share price target for the iPhone maker, analyst Samik Chatterjee argued the company could leverage the millions of users who search its App Store and Safari browser daily to generate the stellar growth seen by Facebook and Google in recent years.

He said the company had the potential to raise revenue by a third every year, from an estimated $2 billion currently to $11 billion in 2025. Apple does not currently give detailed figures on advertising revenue.

Through two difficult years for iPhone sales, the California-based firm has stressed the importance of growth in its services segment, which already includes Apple Care and Apple Music and generated revenue of $12.51 billion last quarter.

Along with its highly anticipated launch of its flagship triple-camera iPhone this year, it rolled out a streaming TV service in September in a bid to diversify its revenue streams away from a stagnating smartphone market.

"While investors are trying to identify the next big frontier for services, we believe hidden in plain sight and underappreciated by most is the advertising opportunity within Apple's fingertips," Chatterjee said.

He maintained his bullish 'overweight' rating on Apple. Only a third of Wall Street analysts currently rate the company "hold" or worse.

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)