Neil Hughes
Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray issued a note to investors Monday afternoon detailing the latest retail sales data from the NPD Group. Mac sales in the month of February were up 43 percent for the month, which followed a similarly strong January increase of 36 percent. In all, Mac sales for the first two months of 2010 are up 39 percent year over year.
The latest retail data suggests that Apple will sell between 2.8 million and 2.9 million Macs in the March quarter, which is above Wall Street's consensus of 2.7 million Macs.
Strong Mac sales were accompanied by better-than-expected iPod sales as well, influencing Munster to call February an "impressive" month for Apple. iPod sales in the first two months of 2010 were up 7 percent, an increase in sales for the first time in over a year.
The numbers are particularly favorable for Apple because 2009 got off to a slow start, putting the Cupertino, Calif., company in a position to exceed when compared to the soft numbers from a year ago. In February 2009, Mac sales dipped 16 percent year-over-year.
The data also shows that the average selling price of Macs is down 10 percent year-over-year, while iPod prices were up 3 percent from the same frame in 2009.
The latest NPD numbers have provided even more confidence to Munster and Piper Jaffray, who have called 2010 the "Year of the Mac." He said Monday that the easing comparisons from 2009 represent a buying opportunity for investors.
Apple of late has consistently delivered blowout quarterly results. During the three-month holiday frame, the company sold a record 3.36 million Macs, helping it to achieve a 50 percent spike in profits. Another 2.9 million Macs for the first quarter of calendar 2010 would be a very strong start for Apple.
Piper Jaffray has maintained its overweight rating for AAPL stock, and a 12-month price target of $284.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Andrew O'Hara
Malcolm Owen
52 Comments
Piper Jaffray has maintained its overweight rating for AAPL stock, and a 12-month price target of $284.
It has been predicted that as the Recession wears on, people will become more interested in luxury goods like Macintoshes, because they're stopping spending on little unnecessary things.
In my case, a Mac is more than a luxury. I've gone through a series of PCs that I have hated, because Windows just sucks and Linux is forever unfinished and neglected. A Mac is something I could stick with.... if only Apple would announce the new MBPs so that I could get on with buying one.
Good, means that Apple won't be replacing their UI on Mac's with the iPad UI.
Mature computer users need a challenge and remain compatible with the Windows of the world, the iPad UI is just too easy.
A Mac is something I could stick with.... if only Apple would announce the new MBPs so that I could get on with buying one.
As long as the current one's are selling great, there is little pressure to update them...
Bummer, because I too am waiting for a refresh. I don't have a Mac now and would really like to get back to them.
The last time I used a Mac regularly was the Mac II I had on my desk in the 80's.
As long as the current one's are selling great, there is little pressure to update them...
Bummer, because I too am waiting for a refresh. I don't have a Mac now and would really like to get back to them.
The last time I used a Mac regularly was the Mac II I had on my desk in the 80's.
I do think Apple wanted a resolution to the Intel/Nvidia wars. Apple couldn't really take a step back in integrated chipsets or battery life, which also meant they couldn't move forward to the i7/i5/i3. Hopefully the Optimus technology is enticing enough for Apple to move forward with Nvidia gpus running this technology on all new MBP's.
It has been predicted that as the Recession wears on, people will become more interested in luxury goods like Macintoshes, because they're stopping spending on little unnecessary things.
Actually, Mac's are cost effective because they last so long.
The hardware is good and the OS doesn't get malware.
The thing with Mac's is the storage, Apple makes it hard to access the hard drive to upgrade it so one can keep using the same machine much longer.
No argument about PC's or Windows, most are total and absolute garbage.
Ubuntu makes for a very good and secure netbook OS as it's permission based copy of Unix, it can be themed to look like XP or even OS X.
It has Firefox which gives you a great browser and all those plug-ins, there is plenty of free software like OpenOffice too. I agree though it's lacking on development, much like OS X is lacking compared to Windows. It's all about market share.
The theme for Ubuntu to look like OS X is called Mac4lin, a little difficult and outdated.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mac4lin/The theme for XP (scary too) is here and it does everything in about a few seconds. Great for those who are mentally stuck in XP and need a simple secure familiar machine.
http://ubuntu.online02.com/node/14I too am waiting for the MacBook Pro updates, I hope Apple doesn't pull a whopper of a change on us neither.
I hope they are working on eliminating the glare and reflections while preserving the clarity of the glass screens. Also a way to user remove the hard drive. I've had to upgrade mine twice already in three years. It's costs plenty to do something that shouldn't really cost much more than the drive itself.