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NPD data shows Mac sales up 20%, Apple on pace to sell 3.6M in March quarter

The latest U.S. sales data shows Apple's Mac sales are up 20 percent year over year, putting the company on pace to meet an expected 3.6 million units sold in the March quarter.

The new domestic sales data from the NPD Group was shared Tuesday by analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray. Munster said he believes the early numbers, representing the first month of Apple's second quarter of fiscal 2011, show the Mac maker on track to meet Wall Street expectations.

Currently, investors expect to see about 22 percent year over year growth in the March quarter, resulting in 3.6 million units. Though U.S. sales were up less — 20 percent — in January, Munster noted that Apple has seen faster international growth of the Mac platform.

Mac sales are expected to receive a boost this week, when Apple is believed to release an update to its MacBook Pro line of notebooks. Munster said the new MacBook Pros will likely provide a tailwind for Mac sales in the final month of the March quarter.

The analyst said he believes Apple has also seen continued strong demand for its new thin-and-light MacBook Air. He noted that the entry-level $999 11-inch MacBook Air occupies the most prime store real estate in the company's retail outlets. In his eyes, this could signal that the MacBook Air Air has supported portable Mac sales while users await new MacBook Pro models, which have not been updated since last April.

Also included in the last NPD numbers are U.S. iPod sales, which were down 10 percent year over year in January. Projecting iPod sales based on NPD figures is more difficult, because international iPod sales represent a larger mix than international Mac sales.

Munster said the latest data shows Apple on track to sell between 9.8 million and 10.3 million iPods in the March quarter. That would mean iPod unit sales of between 5 percent and 10 percent less than the same frame in 2010.

8 Comments

studiomusic 18 Years · 656 comments

And the stock is down about $30 from it's high last week... time to buy!

christopher126 17 Years · 4366 comments

Go Apple! If just half the rumors are true, there is going to be a flurry of new products from Apple! Very exciting stuff!

Best

eldernorm 18 Years · 232 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"The latest U.S. sales data .....The new domestic sales data from the NPD Group was shared Tuesday by analyst Gene Munster ,...".... Just another anal-----yst. :-(

"Mac sales are expected to receive a boost this week, .....Also included in the last NPD numbers are U.S. iPod sales, which were down 10 percent year over year in January. ...Munster said the latest data shows Apple on track to sell between 9.8 million and 10.3 million iPods in the March quarter. That would mean iPod unit sales of between 5 percent and 10 percent less than the same frame in 2010".

Its really sad that these guys do not realize (or the thought is too big for their tiny minds...) that in every iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac... is an iPod.

Yes sales for the music only device portion is down...... which is because every one is buying the more costly iPad or iPhone.....

The fact that they are still selling 40 MILLION iPods a year... is way to fabulous to consider.

Just a thought,
en

sheff 16 Years · 1407 comments

I think I'm gonna be one of those upgrading this year. Of course depending on how much I make from my internship.

adonissmu 15 Years · 1758 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by studiomusic

And the stock is down about $30 from it's high last week... time to buy!

Apple is down because of their subscription plan.