Apple's record-breaking quarterly results — particularly a surge in iPhone sales — impressed analysts on Wall Street this week, even though gross margins and iPad sales did not meet expectations.
Apple, which will disclose earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2010 on Monday, is expected to report profits in-line with Wall Street's estimates but may face trouble besting those predictions with its usual degree of flair due to shortages of two of its hottest products throughout the quarter.
While a new wave of smart phones are believed to be chipping away at Apple's share of the portal media player market amongst high schoolers, interest in the company's iPhone among that same teenage demographic is up sharply since the launch of the iPhone 4 to a new all-time high.
Apple's newly announced confidential deal with Rovi Corporation has been viewed by one prominent Wall Street analyst as more evidence of a connected HDTV, with live TV and DVR functionality, in the company's future.
New domestic sales data shows Apple is on pace to sell as many as 3.8 million Macs in the September quarter, up 23 percent from the same period a year ago.
A new survey of cell phone users found that 20 percent of potential buyers let the iPhone 4 antenna affect their purchasing decision, but three times as many expressed dismay that Apple's smartphone is not available on U.S. carrier Verizon.
With Apple's annual media-centric keynote now set for Sept. 1, Piper Jaffray has advised investors to buy shares of AAPL prior to the event, citing past stock boosts after new iPods were unveiled.
Apple guided revenue for the September quarter 6 percent above consensus estimates, the highest differential over the Street in 17 years. However, that figure may still be conservative given current sales of Macs, new data shows.
Apple is expected to launch a new Apple TV in the coming months with limited storage, a lower price, and its own App Store, paving the way for an Internet-connected HDTV as soon as 2012.
The iPhone 4 remains in limited stock at Apple's U.S. retail stores seven weeks after its launch, suggesting that "antennagate" has done little to slow sales.
Apple again exceeded expectations on Tuesday, when it reported its quarterly earnings, with record Mac sales and signs that the company can sustain its continued growth.
The iPhone 4 antenna issue has reached a "boiling point," though investors in Apple should not overreact to the problem, a Wall Street analyst said Tuesday.
Shares of electronics maker Apple are set climb higher over the next 90 days, given financial research that shows the company to be in position to report significant upside to all three of its major product platforms for the June quarter.
The NPD Group on Tuesday released its retail sales data for the month of May, revealing that Mac sales increased 35 percent for Apple and suggesting that the launch of the iPad will not slow their growth.
Investment analysis firm Piper Jaffray believes that Apple's recently released Mac mini with an HDMI port is more evidence that the company intends to release an Internet-connected HDTV within 2 to 4 years.
With more than three-quarters of first-day iPhone 4 purchasers upgrading from a previous iPhone, Apple has successfully built a recurring revenue stream in which most users will upgrade every one to two years.
The iPhone 4 launch is expected to far exceed last year's debut of the iPhone 3GS, as Apple could see as much as 1.5 million units sold, with users said to be most excited about the addition of FaceTime.
The App Store offers great a value to consumers with 4 billion free applications downloaded to date, but it is not hugely profitable for Apple, as paid-for applications carry an average selling price of $1.49, according to a new analysis.
With record breaking demand for the new iPhone 4 on the first day of preorders, one prominent analyst believes Apple will sell 9.5 million total handsets in the June quarter, while a new breakdown of preorders suggests popularity of the 16GB model.
Following the introduction of iPhone 4, Wall Street analysts said Apple will see even greater sales of its handset in the next year driven by consumer demand for the impressive new hardware.
{{ summary }}
Neil Hughes
Katie Marsal
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
Sam Oliver
