Josh Ong
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee issued a note to investors on Wednesday claiming that all Mac products that have yet to see a refresh this year are "due for refreshes" soon.
Not included on Wu's list are the MacBook Pro, which underwent a refresh in February, and the iMac, which saw a new version on Tuesday. Both products saw a transition to Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors and the addition of the new high-speed Thunderbolt input/output port.
Wu believes the MacBook refresh is especially important because the entry-level notebook represents roughly one-third of Apple's portable business, which itself has grown to 73 percent of all Mac sales. The last update for the MacBook came in May 2010.
As for the other Macs, the Mac Mini was most recently refreshed in June 2010, while the Mac Pro saw an update last July and the MacBook Air received a substantial upgrade last October. Wu sees the upcoming Mac refreshes as offsetting "a very minor cannibalistic impact" that the iPad 2 could have on Apple's Mac business.
In February, a report claimed that Apple will replace the MacBook Air's aging Core 2 Duo chip with the current Sandy Bridge processors in June.
In his note, Wu told investors that Tuesday's iMac refresh stands as "a worthy upgrade" and should help "reinvigorate" Mac's desktop business, which has declined to 27 percent of Macs shipped. Sales of Mac desktops actually dropped by 12 percent year over year last quarter, compared to 53 percent year over year growth for portable Macs.
Wu maintains a Buy rating and a price target of $445 for Apple.
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
66 Comments
Problem with that is all of their computers are always getting updates "in coming months". Could that be more vague?
This just in: Apple will release a new thing some time. Later, they will refresh said thing.
In a related note, Apple also plans to introduce previously unannounced products in the future at an unspecified intervals.
I hope the upcoming revised MacBooks don't have an internal optical brick.
I think Stevo has been pretty clear about the laptop line. He said the MBA is the future of laptops.
I can see a steady path towards matching the MBA's specs to that of the MBP as far as speed/pwr.
Maybe even adding a 15" MBA.
Essentially have two lines and then letting the sales numbers decide when to meld the two and have one line without any optical drives. Apple has a penchant for telling us when we don't need something. And more often than not, they're correct.
Best
PS. I have to believe that having everything made in aluminum and then to have this one MB plastic white hold over really bothers someone like Stevo. But it sounds like it is still selling well.
In a related note, Apple also plans to introduce previously unannounced products in the future at an unspecified intervals.
An unnamed source who is sometimes correct has checked with some component suppliers, and this is in fact correct! I'm definitely going to put off buying something until these other things come out - or should I wait for the second generation so they can work out the problems?