Neil Hughes
Analyst Mark Moskowitz with J.P. morgan sees the MacBook Air becoming a $7 billion-plus revenue driver for Apple with continued growth over the coming months. He noted that unit growth for the thin-and-light notebook accelerated for the fourth straight frame last quarter.
In the third quarter of calendar 2011, Apple sold 923,000 units of the MacBook Air, representing 838.6 percent year-over-year growth. On a sequential basis, the MacBook Air grew 43.8 percent, outpacing total Mac unit growth of 17.1 percent.
Another potential boost for the MacBook Air is China, where Moskowitz believes Apple's expanding presence could be a boon for Mac sales. He noted that in the last quarter, MacBook Air units grew 339 percent year over year in China, versus 76.5 percent for the rest of the Mac lineup.
Moskowitz also doesn't see notebooks based on Intel's Ultrabook specification as posing a significant threat to the MacBook Air. He said the first run of Ultrabooks lack the features and price necessary to compete with Apple.
"In general, we think that Ultrabooks are highly-discretionary devices, and pricing on competitive offerings must fall below $800 before posing a viable threat to Apple's MacBook Air," he wrote in a note to investors. "In our view, Apple's first mover advantage and optimized feature set and form factor command a higher price that early adopters, productivity users, and Apple enthusiasts are willing to absorb."
Numerous reports have indicated that the initial lineup of Ultrabooks have failed to gain traction on the market, and PC makers are set to lower their retail prices this holiday season in an effort to boost sales. Those lower prices are also expected to be aided by a $100 marketing subsidy from Intel.
Ultrabooks have struggled while the MacBook Air continues to grow. Last month, Morgan Stanley revealed that the thin-and-light notebook now represents 28 percent of Apple's notebook shipments.
There are expectations that Apple will expand the MacBook Air lineup in 2012 beyond its current offerings with screen sizes of 11.6 inches and 13.3 inches. The company is rumored to build a new model with a 15-inch screen, and reports have claimed the new, larger MacBook Air will debut in early 2012.
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
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34 Comments
If the analyst is comparing the mba to netbooks, when stating that "Apple's first mover advantage and optimized feature set and form factor command a higher price that early adopters, productivity users, and Apple enthusiasts are willing to absorb.", then he would correctly be pointing out why a $1000-$1500 mba is doing well compared to netbooks.
But if the comparison is related to ultrabooks, as it should be in comparing apples to apples, or as close as possible (and no pun intended), then it's off base given pricing on comparable ultrabooks is not coming in under the mba (apples to apples).
Like with the iPod, Apple is ruling the category that they defined - and those trying to compete head to head will find it difficult to impossible to beat Apple at their own game. The Apple haters will point out the one or two units that come close to competing and how pricing is better - but from a business standpoint, Apple is able to do what they're doing while making margins that no other company can do - making it a sustainable long-term model. That's just not what most other companies have been able to do and I don't see any of them really having any impact on Apple's model going forward.
If the analyst is comparing the mba to netbooks, when stating that "Apple's first mover advantage and optimized feature set and form factor command a higher price that early adopters, productivity users, and Apple enthusiasts are willing to absorb.", then he would correctly be pointing out why a $1000-$1500 mba is doing well compared to netbooks.
He's specifically comparing the MBA to other ultrabooks in that same category. His comment about Apple commanding a higher price is regarding Apple's mindshare in this market segment. Meaning, between a $999 MBA and an $899 Acer Aspire S3 customers are going to choose the MBA. For customers to seriously consider the competition in this segment they will have to be priced another $100 less, or 20% below the MBA.
He's specifically comparing the MBA to other ultrabooks in that same category. His comment about Apple commanding a higher price is regarding Apple's mindshare in this market segment. Meaning, between a $999 MBA and an $899 Acer Aspire S3 customers are going to choose the MBA. For customers to seriously consider the competition in this segment they will have to be priced another $100 less, or 20% below the MBA.
Do you think that laptop/tablet units like the Asus Transformer Prime will eat into the ultralight laptop category?
There is talk that the iPad is reducing sales of the Air already, and it is not as versatile as the new Transformer, given that it is only a tablet, and not a tablet/notebook. Will other manufacturers come out with similar products? Will the tablet/notebook eat into the ultralight laptop category?
That's because the MacBook Airs are awesome. Best laptop I've ever owned. 15" would make it perfection- at least for me (my wife prefers the 11")
don't get the excitement
saw the MBA and MBP in the store next to each other and bought the MBP without a second thought. the MBA screen looks like crap compared to MBP