Mac sales better than feared in April following desktop refresh
Sales of Apple's Mac line slipped nearly 2 percent on a year-over-year basis during the month of April while iPod sales fell around 9 percent, though both segments are reportedly as good or better than Wall Street's consensus estimates for the quarter.
NPD data released Monday shows Mac sales for the month of April fell 1.8 percent when compared to April of 2008. Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, had been expecting sales to fall off by approximately 10% and therefore saw the results as a positive given uncertainty as to whether Apple could maintain Mac sales strength after pent-up demand for new desktop systems introduced in March began to wane.
Although Munster warned that he'll need to see another two months of data before making a definitive call on Apple's June quarter, he still expects the Cupertino-based company to sell anywhere from 2.1 to 2.3 million Macs, which would represent shrinking yearly Mac unit numbers of anywhere from 16 percent to 8 percent, or a rate that's essentially in line with the Street's expectations of a decline between 10 percent and 7 percent.
Meanwhile, NPD's indication that iPod sales were down 9 percent in April leads Munster to estimate June quarter iPod shipments of approximately 9.5 to 10.5 million units, hovering near Wall Street's consensus. While very likely to be disappointing to a company used to annual growth, the analyst notes this may actually be a positive note for Apple as it allays fears that iPod sales will be particularly weak this spring.
Much of the boost is poised to come from the third-generation iPod shuffle, whose debut in March helped buoy iPod sales during a difficult April. Even so, Munster warns that the $79 player may have simultaneously hurt Apple by lowering the average selling price of an iPod downwards, away from more lucrative iPod nano, classic and touch devices.
The positive news was enough for Piper Jaffray to continue with its high share price target of $180.
NPD data released Monday shows Mac sales for the month of April fell 1.8 percent when compared to April of 2008. Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, had been expecting sales to fall off by approximately 10% and therefore saw the results as a positive given uncertainty as to whether Apple could maintain Mac sales strength after pent-up demand for new desktop systems introduced in March began to wane.
Although Munster warned that he'll need to see another two months of data before making a definitive call on Apple's June quarter, he still expects the Cupertino-based company to sell anywhere from 2.1 to 2.3 million Macs, which would represent shrinking yearly Mac unit numbers of anywhere from 16 percent to 8 percent, or a rate that's essentially in line with the Street's expectations of a decline between 10 percent and 7 percent.
Meanwhile, NPD's indication that iPod sales were down 9 percent in April leads Munster to estimate June quarter iPod shipments of approximately 9.5 to 10.5 million units, hovering near Wall Street's consensus. While very likely to be disappointing to a company used to annual growth, the analyst notes this may actually be a positive note for Apple as it allays fears that iPod sales will be particularly weak this spring.
Much of the boost is poised to come from the third-generation iPod shuffle, whose debut in March helped buoy iPod sales during a difficult April. Even so, Munster warns that the $79 player may have simultaneously hurt Apple by lowering the average selling price of an iPod downwards, away from more lucrative iPod nano, classic and touch devices.
The positive news was enough for Piper Jaffray to continue with its high share price target of $180.
Comments
Cue the teckstudian apostles to create some kind of negative spin from this....
Apple was in real trouble.
It was "netbook this...netbook that" yawn.
Today the difficulty is in getting decent net info that isn't laced with siren song calls to come visit the site and make our advertisers happy.
Apple's doing just fine and will continue to do fine as long as they stay a few steps ahead of the competition.
Only people listening to the "talking head" version of net journalist thought
Apple was in real trouble.
It was "netbook this...netbook that" yawn.
Today the difficulty is in getting decent net info that isn't laced with siren song calls to come visit the site and make our advertisers happy.
Apple's doing just fine and will continue to do fine as long as they stay a few steps ahead of the competition.
agreed
miles ahead of competion.
apple overall quarter may have more total dollars than
yr ago quarter
apple is rocking the house
and i can't wait to see the next big thing .
agreed
miles ahead of competion.
apple overall quarter may have more total dollars than
yr ago quarter
apple is rocking the house
and i can't wait to see the next big thing .
I hope you are a shareholder, because for most things in life I wouldnt bve pleased providing a business larger margins just for the benefit of somebody else!
I hope you are a shareholder, because for most things in life I wouldnt bve pleased providing a business larger margins just for the benefit of somebody else!
I think you might be strawmanning brucep's statement. But it's not such a bad thing to want the company to stay strong, if you like the product and it does well by you. I think better than the people that seem to be offended that Apple makes a profit, that Apple dares to try to make a profit despite the industry's troubles.
How would a shuffle at $79 lower the average selling price when the shuffle it replaced was $49?
I think he meant the new design, capacity and features over the 2 year old 2G Suffle style may have pushed buys to get it instead of the higher priced devices. However, I don?t know how anyone would consider a Touch or Classic along with the Shuffle. The Mini, perhaps a few , but I think people know which device will suit their needs most. Having no screen is a deal killer for many right off the bat.
PS: Did Apple?s profit go up with this new device?s higher price, or is it balanced by higher costs.
How would a shuffle at $79 lower the average selling price when the shuffle it replaced was $49?
It lowers the average selling price if it sells in enough quatity that it exceeds the volume of the old shuffle by many times relative to the more expensive models. This could happen presumably because it is new.
I hope you are a shareholder, because for most things in life I wouldnt bve pleased providing a business larger margins just for the benefit of somebody else!
So Apple isn't allowed to make a profit in this economy?
Cue the teckstudian apostles to create some kind of negative spin from this....
I hope you are a shareholder, because for most things in life I wouldnt bve pleased providing a business larger margins just for the benefit of somebody else!
There ya go...Amazingly took 1hr for it to happen.
So Apple isn't allowed to make a profit in this economy?
Just because a company has a better business model than another company and they?ve planned better than other companies means they should be allowed to make a profit?
It's funny, people in the forum say these analysts don't know what they are doing. Then when the company slips sales it's seen as a coup because it wasn't as much as the analyst predicted. Interesting...
Or maybe it's because analysts say things like Give me another two months of data and I'll be able to tell you how the quarter looks too! Think of the definitive call Munster can make after the conference call...
(400 posts !)
iPod and iPhone sales down.
OUCH!
Apple will have a hard time selling millions of iPhone's if they continue the poor QC of the iPhone 3G.
Or maybe it's because analysts say things like Give me another two months of data and I'll be able to tell you how the quarter looks too! Think of the definitive call Munster can make after the conference call...
(400 posts !)
You missed my point, it's not that they know what they are talking about, it's the fact that everyone complains about them and then uses their data to validate a companies numbers. Strange phenomenon really.
I think you might be strawmanning brucep's statement. But it's not such a bad thing to want the company to stay strong, if you like the product and it does well by you. I think better than the people that seem to be offended that Apple makes a profit, that Apple dares to try to make a profit despite the industry's troubles.
HELLO ? WHAT DOES strawmanning mean ??
thank you .
peace
You missed my point, it's not that they know what they are talking about, it's the fact that everyone complains about them and then uses their data to validate a companies numbers. Strange phenomenon really.
Yeah, I did miss that. Unfortunately, the analysts are a significant part of the system so we can't ignore them. And some are buffoons - it's practically impossible not to bash those particular analysts. Buffoons at best, criminals at worst...
But I definitely see your point.
so from 4 billion to 19 billion dollars
going froma good computer exp to a great rock solid no crash no virus experience
OSX software migrating to mobile me and iphone and ak
Was that $4B in cash or a value as a company of $4B?
BTW, they have $29B in cash right now and a marketcap of $113B. By comparison Micorsoft?s marketcap is $183B.