10 Ways Apple Can Hit $1,000

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Setting a $1000 price target for Apple(AAPL) has become more is an easy way for a sell-side analyst to grab some quick publicity but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile digging in on how that lofty number might be achieved.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who rates Apple shares at overweight with a $910 price target, has put forth a ten-step approach on how Apple can garner a trillion-dollar market capitalization, something that Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn highlighted recently at the Ira Sohn Conference.

Among the reasons that Munster cites in making the case for a $1,000 price target over the next few years are a slew of new products to be released this year, international expansion, and the continued growth of Apple's software strategy to put a stranglehold on customers to keep them from switching.

Here are ten reasons Apple could hit $1,000 over the next couple of years.

2012 product roadmap

Munster is especially positive on 2012 and the products Apple will release this year. Apple has already enjoyed tremendous success with the release of the new iPad in March. "We believe Apple's product roadmap for the remainder for the year will include meaningful updates to core product lines including the iPhone and Mac," Munster wrote in his research report.

He is expecting big things from the next version of the iPhone, and the eventual Apple television, but really believes the Mac refresh, expected in the next six weeks, could be huge.