Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, one of the most outspoken figures on all things Apple, told clients on Wednesday that Steve Jobs' absence from this year's Macworld Expo signals "the beginning of a shift in leadership roles" at the company.
Macworld Expo host IDG still expects Apple chief Steve Jobs to keynote 2009's San Francisco show despite unusual silence on the matter. Apple, meanwhile, now has little to fear from Amazon's music store a year later. NPD also data shows Mac sales continuing to grow.
Investment bank Piper Jaffray said Thursday that weakness in consumer spending will bite into PC sales next year, including Apple's, leading the firm to cut its 2009 sales estimates for the Mac maker along with the broader market.
Although this year's holiday shopping season is expected to present challenges for many consumer-oriented hardware companies, Apple is already showing signs of bucking the trend with Black Friday Mac sales reported to be better than expected.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Tuesday issued one of his trademark reports to address a number 'unanswered questions surrounding the Apple story,' such as when the company plans to next update its iPhone and the prospects for an Apple netbook.
A slowing global economy had little impact on Apple's computer business last month, as consumers willingly plunked down their cash for the company's new MacBook offerings, helping to drive Mac sales up more than 25 percent year-over-year.
After spending 25 hours counting sales of iPhones and Macs at Apple's US-based retail chain, investment bank Piper Jaffray said it believes the company this quarter could meet or beat last quarter's record 2.6 million Mac sales total while again selling more than 6 million iPhones.
With just one day to go before Apple announces the results of its fourth fiscal quarter, market research firm NPD is out with its preliminary sales data for the three-month period, leading one expert to suggest the company sold upwards of 2.8 million Macs systems.
Apple in the last six months has broadened its lead among the teenage demographic in the areas of mobile phones and digital music, a critical indicator of the company's long-term growth prospects in those respective markets.
With Apple's September quarter having come and gone with the only major product transition consisting of slightly cheaper iPods, investment bank Piper Jaffray believes the company is once again in a position to outperform its own margin guidance despite widespread concern.
Even as stocks melted down on Monday and fears of tough recession set in, analysts at Piper Jaffray held strong to their Buy rating on shares of Apple, saying the company remains the best positioned amongst its peers to weather the economic storm.
While both Apple and Google appear to be emerging as pioneers in the mobile computing space, the iPhone sports a year-long head start over the Android-based G1 handset introduced Tuesday, and is unlikely to see any lost sales as a result, says investment bank Piper Jaffray.
Investment bank Piper Jaffray boosted its estimates for Apple's current quarter on Monday, noting that iPhones will for the first time account for a material portion of the company's booked revenue.
Apple saw its Mac sales growth decelerate last month, according to preliminary figures from market research firm NPD — a sign that a tepid consumer environment is impacting the company's business.
Wall Street will look for signs Tuesday that Apple can maintain its strong sales growth amid a weakening consumer market, but will also pay close attention to the physical appearance of chief executive Steve Jobs.
Investment bank Piper Jaffray on Tuesday highlighted shares of Apple Inc. by adding them to its Alpha List, saying three key catalysts are likely to lead to significant share appreciation in the short term.
After extrapolating just-released NPD market research data on Mac and iPod sales for the month of July, investment bank Piper Jaffray is out with a call suggesting that Apple is on track to best Street estimates on both fronts for its September quarter.
Resellers both near and afar are reporting signs that Apple's current line of iPod digital music players are on their way out the door, just as one prominent Wall Street analyst restates his claim that a $199 iPod touch is likely to be among the new models that will fill the void.
After spending 25 hours observing sales of iPhones at Apple's national retail chain, investment bank Piper Jaffray now estimates the company is on track to announce a more than fourfold increase in sales of the handset during its fiscal fourth quarter.
Although it has not yet been announced, investment bank Piper Jaffray believes it's only a matter of time before Apple reveals plans to hold a special event next month to usher in a new array of iPods and Mac notebooks.
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Katie Marsal
Aidan Malley
Slash Lane
Sam Oliver
AppleInsider Staff
