Mac shipments slow on absence of new hardware
Apple is seeing a decrease in year-to-year Mac sales due to a later than usual refresh cycle for its popular MacBook Pro line of notebooks, but analysts expect iPhone and iPad sales to offset the drop.
Morgan Stanley said in a research note released on Thursday that although the U.S. retail market improved in March, Apple's shipment growth atrophied, falling 4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2011 due to a lack of new hardware.
Analyst Katy Huberty notes Apple refreshed its major notebook line this time last year, which is in line with the release model the company has traditionally followed.
When Apple announced its move from PowerPC to Intel processors in 2005, it changed the name of its notebook line, trading in the PowerBook moniker for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro marks. Since the name swap and first MacBook Pro debut in early 2006, the company has been fairly consistent in rolling out new models twice a year. For example, the latest generation MacBook Pro launched in October 2011 while its predecessor was announced in February of that year.
There are years where the MacBook Pro line sees only one refresh, like 2010's mid-year release where Apple transitioned from Intel's Core 2 Duo chips to newer Core i5 and i7 silicon. The stall was presumably due to a constrained supply of Intel's then-new processors.
Huberty expects faster international growth of the current and yet-to-be-released MacBook Pro and MacBook Air product lines to somewhat offset the early 2012 deceleration. Previous estimates from Morgan Stanley were looking at a 15 percent global Mac unit growth. She goes on to say that the divergence between domestic and international growth has jumped from a previous 4 points to 15 points during the last quarter of 2011.
"More importantly, we expect demand upside from iPhone and iPad (83% of gross profit) to more than offset any Mac downside (9% of gross profit)," Huberty writes.
Apple's iPhone and iPad have seen tremendous adoption rates from both U.S. and international customers, with J.P. Morgan estimating that iPhone shipments could reach 28.1 million in the first quarter of 2012 (the company's second fiscal quarter). The success of the third generation iPad has also boosted estimates, which now stand at 13.8 million shipments in the quarter ending in March.
The Cupertino, Calif., tech giant is set to hold its second quarter earnings call on April 24.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Totally off topic but on a fun note, and I know it has zero meaning, AAPL topped GOOG at close today ...
Meaningless? But now all the people who know nothing about the stock market can say that Apple is ahead of Google!
Also, they're only $10 billion away from a $600 billion market cap.
Totally off topic but on a fun note, and I know it has zero meaning, AAPL topped GOOG at close today ...
What you mean is: AAPL price per share topped GOOG price per share at close today.
In terms of market share, AAPL exceeded GOOG a long time ago.
My Roth IRA, which is chock-full of AAPL is getting happier every day.
Also, Macs make far less money for Apple than iOS devices do, so the incredible demand for iOS devices will easily take up the slack.
What you mean is: AAPL price per share topped GOOG price per share at close today.
In terms of market share, AAPL exceeded GOOG a long time ago.
My Roth IRA, which is chock-full of AAPL is getting happier every day.
Hello .. I was referring to share value .... I think I made that point in the , I know it's meaningless, part! The joke is, many, many folks actually think Google was worth more due to share price, I was alluding to that which is often joked about here, as referenced by Tallest Skil above.
We moved the bulk of our IRAs to APPL at 135
Sorry folks I derailed this thread ... Get back on track now!
Meaningless? But now all the people who know nothing about the stock market can say that Apple is ahead of Google!
Also, they're only $10 billion away from a $600 billion market cap.
One trillion here we come ....
Apple is seeing a decrease in year-to-year Mac sales due to a later than usual refresh cycle for its popular MacBook Pro line of notebooks . . .
I firmly believe that Steve Jobs would've been screaming at Intel by now because of the delays in Intel getting their chips out the door. Steve got fed up with Motorola and IBM dragging their feet on updates to the PowerPC processors, and now the same problem is starting to happen with Intel.
Steve got fed up with Motorola and IBM dragging their feet on updates to the PowerPC processors, and now the same problem is starting to happen with Intel.
*coughARMcough*
Yeah, we're years and years away from that.
I firmly believe that Steve Jobs would've been screaming at Intel by now because of the delays in Intel getting their chips out the door. Steve got fed up with Motorola and IBM dragging their feet on updates to the PowerPC processors, and now the same problem is starting to happen with Intel.
I agree, but last we heard, didn't AMD get canned because of a manufacturing delay as well? Where else can they turn now?
I agree, but last we heard, didn't AMD get canned because of a manufacturing delay as well? Where else can they turn now?
See above. I'm not sure AMD was ever in the cards.
Hello .. I was referring to share value ....
Wasn't clear to me that you were.
*coughARMcough*
Yeah, we're years and years away from that.
HAHA if apple goes to arm for desktop you will see the death of apple desktops. Lets not fool ourselves, arm may be great for mobility, but its not where close to Intel desktop performance nor will they ever be close.
arm dominance will be gone as soon as 2014. Intel already beats dual core arm cpu with its single core solution and intel fab is about 3 to 4 years ahead of any foundry
See above. I'm not sure AMD was ever in the cards.
amd was in the running for new airs but failed to deliver in quantity and quality. Excellent gpu performance but low cpu performance.
I firmly believe that Steve Jobs would've been screaming at Intel by now because of the delays in Intel getting their chips out the door. Steve got fed up with Motorola and IBM dragging their feet on updates to the PowerPC processors, and now the same problem is starting to happen with Intel.
so??
do you know if tim isn't already burning intel's CEO's family and eating them after it?
do you know if tim isn't already burning intel's CEO's family and eating them after it?
Sounds like a possibility.
Steve, on the other hand, was a vegan.
Yes and here I am, cash in hand, waiting waiting waiting waiting for the 17" MacBook Pro with Bluetooth 4...
You will have to wait 2/3 months
See above. I'm not sure AMD was ever in the cards.
I really don't think they'll move towards using them on desk/laptops.