Apple has seen 'significant' slowdown in Mac sales, report claims
A new, disputed report from one Wall Street analyst claims Apple's Mac sales have slowed significantly since the fourth week in July, suggesting its back-to-school promotion is not boosting sales as much as expected.
The rumors from analyst Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research were revealed in a note to investors issued on Wednesday. They arrived one day after a separate research note from analyst Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research said Mac sales are strong, directly contradicting Chowdhry's conclusions.
Chowdhry said that the past weekend "was probably one of the slowest weekends for Mac sales" in the current calendar year, citing proprietary research based on "various tracking data." Last weekend, he said Mac sales were "probably down" between 35 percent and 40 percent from the weekend of July 23.
The data culled by Chowdhry stands in opposition to Um, who said his own checks within the retail channel found that demand for back-to-school PCs has been "encouraging." He said on Tuesday Apple's Mac brand "continues to be the most popular among consumers and students heading back to school."
Chowdhry, however, believes that Mac sales have been impacted by high gas prices, which he says have "made consumers more price sensitive." The analyst surveyed four university book stores, who reportedly revealed a "significant" drop in Mac sales over the last three weeks, though employees were said to be "optimistic" that sales will increase when schools reopen.
Global Equities Research also spoke with an undisclosed number of parents who reportedly indicated that this year's back-to-school promotion, offering a $100 App Store gift card, is not adequate. He said most parents would rather receive $100 cash back on education pricing.
The analyst believes Apple should extend its back-to-school promotion by 10 days to Sept. 30, 2011, and increase the amount of the App Store gift card to $125. He also suggested that Apple offer its hardware protection plan through its application stores, allowing parents to use their App Store gift card to purchase an extended warranty.
If true, Chowdhry's findings would be particularly surprising, as Mac sales have consistently outperformed the rest of the PC market for years. Though he characterized Mac sales as "weak," no comparisons were made to sales in the larger PC industry over the last few weeks.
While Chowdhry's claims go against convention, it should also be noted that Apple did report lower-than-expected Mac sales in its previous quarter. Analysts on Wall Street believed the company would sell a record 4.2 million Macs, but actual sales came in at 3.95 million.
Last month, the same analyst said he expects Apple to launch three HDTV models by March 2012. He expects Apple to enter the high-definition television set market based on details culled from a number of developer events he attended.
Last year, Chowdhry incorrectly claimed that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer would give a presentation at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The analyst said that Microsoft would take the stage to showcase Visual Studio 2010, but that event never happened.
The rumors from analyst Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research were revealed in a note to investors issued on Wednesday. They arrived one day after a separate research note from analyst Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research said Mac sales are strong, directly contradicting Chowdhry's conclusions.
Chowdhry said that the past weekend "was probably one of the slowest weekends for Mac sales" in the current calendar year, citing proprietary research based on "various tracking data." Last weekend, he said Mac sales were "probably down" between 35 percent and 40 percent from the weekend of July 23.
The data culled by Chowdhry stands in opposition to Um, who said his own checks within the retail channel found that demand for back-to-school PCs has been "encouraging." He said on Tuesday Apple's Mac brand "continues to be the most popular among consumers and students heading back to school."
Chowdhry, however, believes that Mac sales have been impacted by high gas prices, which he says have "made consumers more price sensitive." The analyst surveyed four university book stores, who reportedly revealed a "significant" drop in Mac sales over the last three weeks, though employees were said to be "optimistic" that sales will increase when schools reopen.
Global Equities Research also spoke with an undisclosed number of parents who reportedly indicated that this year's back-to-school promotion, offering a $100 App Store gift card, is not adequate. He said most parents would rather receive $100 cash back on education pricing.
The analyst believes Apple should extend its back-to-school promotion by 10 days to Sept. 30, 2011, and increase the amount of the App Store gift card to $125. He also suggested that Apple offer its hardware protection plan through its application stores, allowing parents to use their App Store gift card to purchase an extended warranty.
If true, Chowdhry's findings would be particularly surprising, as Mac sales have consistently outperformed the rest of the PC market for years. Though he characterized Mac sales as "weak," no comparisons were made to sales in the larger PC industry over the last few weeks.
While Chowdhry's claims go against convention, it should also be noted that Apple did report lower-than-expected Mac sales in its previous quarter. Analysts on Wall Street believed the company would sell a record 4.2 million Macs, but actual sales came in at 3.95 million.
Last month, the same analyst said he expects Apple to launch three HDTV models by March 2012. He expects Apple to enter the high-definition television set market based on details culled from a number of developer events he attended.
Last year, Chowdhry incorrectly claimed that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer would give a presentation at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The analyst said that Microsoft would take the stage to showcase Visual Studio 2010, but that event never happened.
Comments
"Apple's Mac sales have slowed significantly since yesterday at 4 p.m. GMT, suggesting its back-to-school promotion is not boosting sales as much as expected."
Chowdhry said that the past 3 hours "were probably one of the slowest 3 hours for Mac sales" in the current calendar day.
Man, talk about splitting atoms. I can see it now:
"Apple's Mac sales have slowed significantly since yesterday at 4 p.m. GMT, suggesting its back-to-school promotion is not boosting sales as much as expected."
Chowdhry said that the past 3 hours "were probably one of the slowest 3 hours for Mac sales" in the current calendar day.
This from a guy who estimated last Q revenue tobe $24.8 billion (actual $28.57) and eps to be $5.81 (actual $7.79). I bet this gets picked up by cnbc, Reuters, ap, WSJ, bloomberg and barons just to bash apple.
Anyway, this Q, apple sells at least 4.7 million macs.
"This same analyst, however, did not bother researching the educational promotion, which saves you a minimum of $100 on a MacBook Pro, and $66 on AppleCare in addition to the meager $100 gift card."
1.) Sell Apple stock. Check
2.) Come out with negative news on Apple. Check
3.) Watch stock price fall.
4.) Buy stock back at lower price.
5.) Come out with positive news on Apple.
6.) Watch stock price rise.
7.) Laugh all the way to the bank.
8.) Repeat.
Man, talk about splitting atoms. I can see it now:
"Apple's Mac sales have slowed significantly since yesterday at 4 p.m. GMT, suggesting its back-to-school promotion is not boosting sales as much as expected."
Chowdhry said that the past 3 hours "were probably one of the slowest 3 hours for Mac sales" in the current calendar day.
Exactly. It's like, ".....the past 3 hours "were probably one of the slowest 3 hours for Mac sales" (between 1 PM and 4 PM) in the current calendar day, the day of Thanksgiving."
Doesn't he know that most 'schools' are off in July and there's little point in surveying university book stores!?
Analyst's To Do List:
1.) Sell Apple stock. Check
2.) Come out with negative news on Apple. Check
3.) Watch stock price fall.
4.) Buy stock back at lower price.
5.) Come out with positive news on Apple.
6.) Watch stock price rise.
7.) Laugh all the way to the bank.
8.) Repeat.
Analyst's To Do List:
1.) Sell Apple stock. Check
2.) Come out with negative news on Apple. Check
3.) Watch stock price fall.
4.) Buy stock back at lower price.
5.) Come out with positive news on Apple.
6.) Watch stock price rise.
7.) Laugh all the way to the bank.
8.) Repeat.
This.
I'm no investor, but I've heard it said quite a few times that Apple stock is one of the easiest to manipulate.
Anyone know which of these analysts actually have the best track record with regards to Apple?
believes that Mac sales have been impacted by high gas prices, which he says have "made consumers more price sensitive." The analyst surveyed four university book stores, who reportedly revealed a "significant" drop in Mac sales over the last three weeks, though employees were said to be "optimistic" that sales will increase when schools reopen.
Wait, what? He went to a couple of uni bookstores before classes and it looked slow, therefore gas prices are hurting computer sales....?
Might as well see what sign the MacBook is and do an astrology chart to predict sales. What a load of crap.
It sounds like this guy have some shorts on AAPL coming (probably he thought that the whole market will go down after S&P downgrade). Sad part, that he will get away with this.
indicated that this year's back-to-school promotion, offering a $100 App Store gift card, is not adequate. He said most parents would rather receive $100 cash back on education pricing.
"This same analyst, however, did not bother researching the educational promotion, which saves you a minimum of $100 on a MacBook Pro, and $66 on AppleCare in addition to the meager $100 gift card."
Although it does that all-year round. Ostensibly, the back-to school promotions are intended to strengthen sales in what would otherwise be a less profitable quarter. If the promotion is not as valuable to the consumer compared to previous years, it could very well lead to a relatively worse quarter than last year.
However to play devils advocate here there are some issues with this years program. One is the assumption that people are happy with the non discount. I do believe over all educational sales will be impacted by this years program.
The second issue is that the dropping of the Mac Book and pushing of the AIRs is extremely stupid. The problem is that Apple no longer has a full performance low end notebook. I actually believe Apple was trying to shore up sales of the AIRs by dropping the Mac Book. The unfortunate thing here is that you can't force the sale of hardware people don't want. In the end many customers will walk away from Apple and the AIRs simply because they have to think about the machines suitability for their needs.
Here is the ugly truth: for most college students their laptop is much more than a word processor. It effectively is also an entertainment system, a communications system and even a replacement for a stereo. People will look at the AIR and see that it comes up short in a number of ways.
I don't know if this guy is blowing smoke or not, what I do know is that Apple needs to overhaul it's Mac management team. Frankly they have lost it. It isn't like removing the CD drive from the Mini was bad as I think it was a good move. The problem with both the Mini and the AIR is that they did not offer up a viable way to get legacy support that many need. With the advent of TB they really should have debuted a Time Capsule like device with a CD drive.