Apple selling 22 iPhones, 28 Macs per store each day

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Observations made at more than two dozen Apple retail stores over the last few weeks show Apple to be maintaining healthy sales of Macs and iPhones that aren't far off from rates seen during the lead-in to last year's holiday shopping season.



The findings are the latest to suggest the Cupertino-based Mac and electronics maker remains better positioned than most to weather the brunt of an ongoing economic crunch that has seen consumers rein in their budgets and put novelty and non-critical purchases on hold for a brighter day.



During the tail end of March and early April, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster and five members of his research team spent 25 hours in Apple retail stores across the country counting how many Macs, iPhones and iPods left the stores in customers' hands. The mix of stores included 7 flagship locations and 18 averaged-sized stores, each of which were surveyed on various days of the week at random times.



Using a weighted average calculation that assumes 8 percent of Apple's retail stores are flagship locations, with the remaining 92 percent being regular stores, Munster concluded that company is currently selling an average of 22 iPhone 3Gs, 28 Macs, and approximately 50 iPods per day through its U.S. retail locations.



For Macs, this compares to an average of 36 Macs per store during the analyst's most recent checks in November 2008 and sales of 20 Macs per store witnessed during a similar survey back in September of 2007. Apple ultimately went on to report sales of 2.52 million Macs during the November 2008 quarter and 2.16 million Macs during the September 2007 quarter, leading Munster to estimate that the company sold about 2.2 million Macs during the recently-ended March quarter.



"We also note that the Street is looking for about 2.1 million Mac units in the March quarter, so our checks imply upside to the Street Mac units as well," he wrote in a report obtained by AppleInsider. "The solid Mac number is likely due to the newly released Mac desktops [announced on March 3rd]."







Meanwhile, sales of 22 iPhones per stores is down from 28 iPhones per store during November, which suggests a 21 percent decline in sales sequentially compared to the Street's view of a 24 percent drop. However, Munster is betting that expanded international availability will help offset some of these domestic declines and is therefore modeling iPhone sales for the March quarter to be relatively flat at 4.4 million units.







"And regardless, our checks are not showing the magnitude of sequential declines the Street is anticipating in March," he added. "In other words, we continue to expect upside to Street iPhone numbers in the March quarter."



For the first time in the history of its Apple store surveys, Piper Jaffray also counted daily iPod sales but didn't report on its findings in detail due to a lack of comparative data from previous rounds of checks, saying only that sales of the digital media players were "slightly more than twice" the volume of iPhone 3G sales.



"This provides a rough guide for iPod units in the quarter, and we believe the iPod number should be in-line with Street estimates of ~10 million units, helped by the [March 11th] launch of the iPod shuffle," Munster wrote.



Piper Jaffray maintains a Buy rating and $180 price target on shares of Apple.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 55
    iPhone sales typically slow down before a new product or product update is released.
  • Reply 2 of 55
    walshbjwalshbj Posts: 864member
    I actually like reading Gene Munster stuff because I'm long on aapl. But I constantly wonder if these surveys mean anything, nothing, or just a little bit less than nothing.



    Munster's iPod esitmates have been as far off as other analysts in the past. Makes me wonder who pays for his little field trips and half-baked surveys.
  • Reply 3 of 55
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    How'd you like to be the guy sitting on the bench outside of an apple store counting the things people carry out.



    "Sorry, maam, would you mind telling me what's in your bag?"
  • Reply 4 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by walshbj View Post


    I actually like reading Gene Munster stuff because I'm long on aapl. But I constantly wonder if these surveys mean anything, nothing, or just a little bit less than nothing. Munster's iPod esitmates have been as far off as other analysts in the past. Makes me wonder who pays for his little field trips and half-baked surveys.



    I, for one, would rather have a "half-baked" survey then no data at all.

    I appreciate that Gene actually does some real research instead of just getting smoke blown up his butt by management.
  • Reply 5 of 55
    walshbjwalshbj Posts: 864member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davebarnes View Post


    I, for one, would rather have a "half-baked" survey then no data at all.

    I appreciate that Gene actually does some real research instead of just getting smoke blown up his butt by management.



    But as a marketing guy you've studied statistical analysis and know how difficult it is to reduce the margin of error, even with a large sample. There are so many variables in his methods that it's really hard to give it much credence. I agree, it's good that he tries - and it's a number we didn't have otherwise. But it really doesn't mean much.



    You said REAL research - and I'm not sure this is REAL research.



    @DeaPeaJay - I bet Gene was excited about the Apple ban on plastic bags.
  • Reply 6 of 55
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    That equals to about 6,300 Macs per sold through Apple stores around the world. Which equates to around 530,000 Macs per quarter (assuming 90 days).



    Yes, there are lots of variables. Some stores will sell far more than others. I wonder he checked to see if these were new Macs or Macs coming off the Genius Bar (repair)?
  • Reply 7 of 55
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    I have always seen people walking out with new Macs whenever I visit an Apple Store, any time of the year. I rarely see anyone buy a computer at Best Buy. Best Buy purchases are typically electronics, games, movies, and then music and computer accessories. Rarely saw any computer sales at Circuit City, when they were still open. Perhaps more PC's are bought online.
  • Reply 8 of 55
    doroteadorotea Posts: 323member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joe in miami View Post


    iPhone sales typically slow down before a new product or product update is released.



    Deleted
  • Reply 9 of 55
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joe in miami View Post


    iPhone sales typically slow down before a new product or product update is released.



    There has only been one significant iPhone update so far, so it makes no sense to talk about how a slowdown response is typical. Expected, but not typical.
  • Reply 10 of 55
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post


    That equals to about 6,300 Macs per sold through Apple stores around the world. Which equates to around 530,000 Macs per quarter (assuming 90 days).



    Yes, there are lots of variables. Some stores will sell far more than others. I wonder he checked to see if these were new Macs or Macs coming off the Genius Bar (repair)?



    Do they give you a new Mac box when you take your Mac in for repair at the genius bar?
  • Reply 11 of 55
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    There has only been one significant iPhone update so far, so it makes no sense to talk about how the typical slowdown response is typical.



    Yeah, and before that update, Apple RAN OUT OF STOCK which might have *some* impact on the sales trend....
  • Reply 12 of 55
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Must be Mother's Day gifts.

    How would you fit a Mac in an Easter basket?
  • Reply 13 of 55
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by walshbj View Post


    I actually like reading Gene Munster stuff because I'm long on aapl. But I constantly wonder if these surveys mean anything, nothing, or just a little bit less than nothing.



    Munster's iPod esitmates have been as far off as other analysts in the past. Makes me wonder who pays for his little field trips and half-baked surveys.



    Yeah. It is intertaining to see what he comes up with, but in terms of useable data? Not much. He takes a tiny sample of a non-representative source. That is bad enough, but then he tries to compare it to different quarters. He is not even going for year to year comparisons.



    So the fact that he goes to the stores and counts actual sales (I will give the benefit of the doubt as to whether or not this is even done accurately) so it is one step above anecdotal.



    I wouldn't want to be the guy using his numbers to make my investing decisions, though...
  • Reply 14 of 55
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Must be Mother's Day gifts.

    How would you fit a Mac in an Easter basket?



    You really are twisted up about this Easter basket thing, arn't you...
  • Reply 15 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    There has only been one significant iPhone update so far, so it makes no sense to talk about how a slowdown response is typical. Expected, but not typical.



    You are correct. I shouldn't have mentioned the iPhone. Rather, generally speaking, the sales channel does slow down prior to new launches.
  • Reply 16 of 55
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by walshbj View Post


    I actually like reading Gene Munster stuff because I'm long on aapl. But I constantly wonder if these surveys mean anything, nothing, or just a little bit less than nothing.



    Munster's iPod esitmates have been as far off as other analysts in the past. Makes me wonder who pays for his little field trips and half-baked surveys.



    They've been off by about plus or minus 5%. That's pretty good for this sort of thing. They have to correlate data from these surveys and relate them to the final results. After a while, it begins to make sense.



    Otherwise, there is NO information we can look at.



    It was easier before Apple had more large dealers the way they do now, and major sales through the internet.
  • Reply 17 of 55
    vanaxvanax Posts: 5member
    Hi Walsh,

    Gene's on-site examination of Apple product sales is helpful at least because it seems to confirm that Apple's performance is likely not making wild swings one way or the other, while being the only examination out there that offers first hand analysis. This is good. Naturally, prudent investors and readers interested in Apple's performance need to combine his findings with data from other sources, instead of relying upon his data exclusively.
  • Reply 18 of 55
    hattighattig Posts: 860member
    Am I alone in thinking "only 28 Macs a day" is pretty low given a store's running costs? I guess the 50 iPods (is that all?) help.
  • Reply 19 of 55
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hattig View Post


    Am I alone in thinking "only 28 Macs a day" is pretty low given a store's running costs? I guess the 50 iPods (is that all?) help.



    28 Macs a day at probably $1500 gross per = $1.3 million per month, just from computers. How much do you think it costs to run a store?
  • Reply 20 of 55
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davebarnes View Post


    I, for one, would rather have a "half-baked" survey then no data at all.

    I appreciate that Gene actually does some real research instead of just getting smoke blown up his butt by management.



    Same here. At least a cursory bit of research aids in the quarter to quarter gleaning of consumer sentiment at the Apple Store level. Online is a different matter altogether.
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