Improved iMac supply propels Apple's Mac sales up 14%

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
After a disappointing holiday quarter, signs continue to show that Mac sales are on the rebound, with the latest data from the NPD Group revealing a 14% year over year increase in January and February.

iMacs


Apple's growth was attributed to improved availability of the new all-in-one iMac desktop by analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. NPD's research tracks sales of computers sold domestically.

The data shows Mac sales continue to grow through the March quarter, albeit at a slower pace than the major 31 percent spike in U.S. Mac sales Apple saw in the month of January.

Munster's forecasts still call for total global Mac sales for the March quarter to be down 5 percent year over year, though he admitted there is room for "some slight upside," given the latest sales estimates. He projects that Apple will sell 3.8 million Macs in the three-month span.

NPD


iMac sales were down 700,000 units year over year in the December quarter as Apple faced apparent issues with production due to a new screen lamination process. Limited iMac availability was the chief reason cited by Apple officials for a 17 percent drop in Mac sales in the December quarter.

In all, Mac sales fell 800,000 from holiday 2011 to a year later, from 4.9 million to 4.1 million. Apple's struggles ended a long-running streak where the Mac had continued to outgrow ? or in some cases shrink less than ? the greater PC market.

Finally, the NPD's data also found domestic iPod sales were down 16 percent year over year in the months of January and February. Munster has predicted that iPods will be down 17 percent worldwide for the full quarter.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Apple can solve problems. Apple is doomed.

  • Reply 2 of 32
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Imac sales were down last quarter because there were no iMacs to sell. Wow, what an insight. Any more amazing comments from analysts?

    That's one good thing for Apple's cash pile. It's a great financial shock-absorber so when they do product refreshes, they can weather the storm.
  • Reply 3 of 32
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Apple can solve problems. Apple is doomed.

    Exactly. Too few, downgrade the stock / many available obviously over producing so downgrade the stock again.
  • Reply 4 of 32
    richard getzrichard getz Posts: 1,142member
    iMac sales are cannibalizing iPad sales which are cannibalizing iPhone sales which are cannibalizing iPod sales. Apple is doomed! /s
  • Reply 5 of 32
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    3.8M Macs this Q? That's the first time Gene Munster makes a fair estimate, to me. And after all my negative remarks about him this has to be said as well.
  • Reply 6 of 32
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    14% < 30% = sell! /s
  • Reply 7 of 32


    I was in an Apple store over the weekend...Number 1: It was very busy with customers, And 2: The iMac 27" is a very beautiful machine! :)

  • Reply 8 of 32
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post



    Imac sales were down last quarter because there were no iMacs to sell. Wow, what an insight. Any more amazing comments from analysts?



    That's one good thing for Apple's cash pile. It's a great financial shock-absorber so when they do product refreshes, they can weather the storm.




    They could have absorbed this "refresh" even without the great cash horde because the "refresh" quarter still brought in record profits.

  • Reply 9 of 32
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    I was in an Apple store over the weekend...Number 1: It was very busy with customers, And 2: The iMac 27" is a very beautiful machine! :)





    Agree with both.


     


    But I don't enjoy the Apple Stores as much as I used to - the daily sea of humanity makes many (most?) of them stink like a men's locker room by noon, if not earlier.

  • Reply 10 of 32
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    And 2: The iMac 27" is a very beautiful machine! :)



     


    Indeed.  The one in front of me is truly stunning.

  • Reply 11 of 32
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member


    Funny thing - when an analyst posts positive numbers about Apple sales, there is no questioning the method of data sampling or reliability of the source. image

  • Reply 12 of 32
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,520member


    Apple has managed to sort out their biggest screw up of 2012 and analysts are now reporting that sales of the iMac line are way up..... No shit genius.

  • Reply 13 of 32
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Funny thing - when an analyst posts positive numbers about Apple sales, there is no questioning the method of data sampling or reliability of the source. ;)

    Not true at all. I've frequently questioned things like this. If you go back through the market share threads, you'll find multiple cases where I said that market share figures based on samples were not valid unless they could prove that the samples were representative - and I did so even in threads which showed very positive numbers for Apple.
  • Reply 14 of 32
    allenbfallenbf Posts: 993member
    So Gene is saying that sales are higher if there is an adequate supply. Shocker. In other news, water feels wet if you touch it.

    Give this man an honorary doctorate in Econ.
  • Reply 15 of 32
    [quote]But I don't enjoy the Apple Stores as much as I used to - the daily sea of humanity makes many (most?) of them stink like a men's locker room by noon, if not earlier.[/quote]

    Ha! You made me chuckle, ankleskater. "The stores are nice except for all the customers". ROFL. I hope you're not an employee at one of those stores. ;)

    (Though perhaps you're mostly complaining about the *type* of customer, in which case your complaint is akin to what my friends say about Wmart. Still, I'd think the two shops would have a different demographic.)
  • Reply 16 of 32
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member


    There is no possible way the NPD Group could cull accurate data on Mac sales. Absolutely impossible unless they are stealing it from Apple. In other words... BS.

  • Reply 17 of 32
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ankleskater View Post


    Funny thing - when an analyst posts positive numbers about Apple sales, there is no questioning the method of data sampling or reliability of the source. image



     


    Any and all statements by analysts should be viewed with a huge amount of skepticism or just plain be ignored.

  • Reply 18 of 32
    Ankleskater...
    We need to make a Fabreez mist app for the devices at their stores! Call it 'BO b Gone'...
  • Reply 19 of 32
    cash907cash907 Posts: 893member


    I'm assuming after looking over these charts that when they say "Mac sales," they mean ALL Macs, including the MBP and MBA line, which have seen significant price cuts recently. Considering iMacs have been instock at most BnM stores, both Apple and third party since January, I think it's fair to say those price cuts probably play a huge role in this surge. Of course no one wishing to stay in Apple's good graces wants to report that, as it directly implies lowering rMBP prices to more realistic levels = surging sales. Since this report doesn't include sales numbers for individual products in the Mac line, there's no way of knowing what contributed most to this sales increase, but I do think it's notable that the recent significant price cuts aren't mentioned at all.

  • Reply 20 of 32
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    cash907 wrote: »
    I'm assuming after looking over these charts that when they say "Mac sales," they mean ALL Macs, including the MBP and MBA line, which have seen significant price cuts recently. Considering iMacs have been instock at most BnM stores, both Apple and third party since January, I think it's fair to say those price cuts probably play a huge role in this surge. Of course no one wishing to stay in Apple's good graces wants to report that, as it directly implies lowering rMBP prices to more realistic levels = surging sales. Since this report doesn't include sales numbers for individual products in the Mac line, there's no way of knowing what contributed most to this sales increase, but I do think it's notable that the recent significant price cuts aren't mentioned at all.

    I don't think that there's any way to say that for a number of reasons:

    1. Sales in January are always the slowest month of the year. So even without any price changes or new products, one would expect them to increase in February and March.

    2. Even in January, supplies of the iMac were constrained with long lead times - especially for custom orders.

    3. The price cuts were not universal. AFAIK, the prices on the Apple Store remained unchanged.

    There's absolutely no way to say that the price cuts played a huge role as you claim. They probably played some role, but no one outside of Apple knows how much.
Sign In or Register to comment.