Neil Hughes
The 2012 holiday shopping season is predicted to be dominated by Apple, as the company has refreshed nearly its entire product lineup in the last few months.
Analyst Brian White with Topeka Capital Markets expects that consumers will spend slightly more this holiday season in the face of continuing economic struggles. But he expects that Apple's products will be the most in demand this holiday season, particularly the iPad and iPhone.
"This holiday season will belong to Apple, as the product lineup has never been stronger with a recent refresh across 80% of the company's portfolio," White said, "combined with spending trends in the consumer electronics world that favor areas such as tablets and smartphones."
He cited a new survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association which found that tablets were the most-desired gift among U.S. adults, taking 16 percent of the vote. That was enough to beat TVs, with 10 percent, and smartphones, with 8 percent.
The poll also found that demand for tablets is growing, as last year the CEA found that 14 percent of U.S. adults wanted a tablet for the holidays. Smartphones also soared on the list from ninth place last year to third this year.
But the survey also found that consumers plan to spend less on electronics for their 2012 holiday gifts. Last year, consumers said they would spend about 32 percent of their budget on electronics, while that number dropped to 30 percent this year.
The CEA is projecting holiday retail sales will rise by 3.4 percent this year. That growth would be slower than last year, when holiday retail sales were up 3.68 percent.
White made waves on Monday after he called a recent selloff in AAPL stock "insanely insane." After his note to investors was issued and began to grab attention, the company's stock rebounded by more than 7 percent in a single day.
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14 Comments
Here's hoping the 15" rMBP sticks with its historic average update times, so the 2nd gen will be out around March 2013. I expect it will start a bit cheaper, just as the MacBook Air had a big drop between its 1st and 2nd gen.
Oh no, not a increase, the stock can't take this kind of news.
I'll be a happy camper once that 'Available in November' disappears
Re: I'll be a happy camper once that 'Available in November' disappears Yes - me, too. I find it interesting that I have an email from Apple pushing the one-day sale on Friday (3 days away) --- and there is still no price for any of the iMacs ---- 21.5 inch version available in November ---- and we are running out of November.
This article makes it seem like the 7% run-up yesterday had everything to do with White's note to investors. There have been many research notes issued by lots of analysts to lots of investors over the past couple months, what makes this guy's note special compared to the rest of them?