Tough 2010 comparisons cause 'soft' 9% Mac sales growth for Apple in April
A tough comparison in the month of April led to the low number seen in the latest NPD domestic sales data, which is well below the 22 percent year-over-year increase investors on Wall Street are expecting. April is the first of three months in Apple's June quarter.
Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said on Monday that despite the slow start, it is "too early to make a call" based on just one month of data for the U.S. only. He believes that with international sales included, the Mac is likely tracking in line with expectations.
Wall Street watchers expect Apple to sell between 4.1 million and 4.3 million Macs total in the June quarter, or around 22 percent more than the company moved a year ago.
Last April, Mac sales were up 38 percent year over year in a particularly strong month of 2010. Apple will face another tough comparison in May, when Mac sales were up 35 percent in 2010.
But Munster noted that comparisons ease "dramatically" in June, when sales were up just 11 percent year over year in 2010.
The Mac sales boost in 2010 was caused by the release of new MacBook Pros in April of last year. For comparison, Apple updated the MacBook Pro line again, adding the high-speed Thunderbolt port in late February. That refresh caused sales to spike 47 percent year over year in March.
For the rest of 2011, domestic Mac sales saw a 20 percent year-over-year increase in January, and 12 percent in March.
The latest NPD data for the U.S. also suggests Apple will sell between 8 million and 8.5 million iPods in the June quarter. The sales figures show iPod sales tracking down 6 percent year over year, though sales for the full three-month quarter are expected to be off between 10 percent and 15 percent from 2010.
29 Comments
And this report is causing apple stock to go down 2.+-%?
Apple WILL post growth in phone sales, iPad sales and other areas, yet folks are freakin out, because the numbers aren't looking good right now.
It's this type of reporting that sometime pisses my off, and I'm sure other stock holders.
Skip
And this report is causing apple stock to go down 2.+-%?
Apple WILL post growth in phone sales, iPad sales and other areas, yet folks are freakin out, because the numbers aren't looking good right now.
It's this type of reporting that sometime pisses my off, and I'm sure other stock holders.
Skip
yeah but you have to take the good with the bad. When they are singing Apple's praises people gripe and not people are griping when they aren't singing Apple's praises. Bottom line: it all evens out!
And this report is causing apple stock to go down 2.+-%?
Apple WILL post growth in phone sales, iPad sales and other areas, yet folks are freakin out, because the numbers aren't looking good right now.
It's this type of reporting that sometime pisses my off, and I'm sure other stock holders.
Skip
everyone is worried about 2012 numbers by now and it will be hard to keep growing like this
That's why Apple didn't make iPad as a stand-alone computing device because average person might just buy an iPad instead of Macbook Air.
And this report is causing apple stock to go down 2.+-%?
Apple WILL post growth in phone sales, iPad sales and other areas, yet folks are freakin out, because the numbers aren't looking good right now.
It's this type of reporting that sometime pisses my off, and I'm sure other stock holders.
Skip
The Wall Street Casino keeps wanting more and more for the house. No company can keep up with the ravenous demand for profits from greedy investors. If Apple can't keep growing at the rate THEY insist on they'll just kill Apple and move on the next cash cow.