Apple saw double-digit declines in Mac unit sales last month but is nonetheless seen in good shape to pull off a March quarter that's fairly in-line with current Street estimates thanks to accelerated shipments of new desktop models this month.
Despite the red ink flowing from retailers and PC makers, Apple is expected to ride out its second fiscal quarter ending in March with respectable numbers nearly in line with its performance last year.
Although Apple has publicly denied interest in such markets, investment bank Piper Jaffray said Thursday it expects the company to introduce a networked television in the next two years and update its Apple TV set-top-box with DVR capabilities by year's end.
Sales of Apple's Mac and iPod products bounced back last month following a disappointing November, helping the company's performance in those segments pull slightly ahead of Wall Street's consensus estimates for the December quarter.
Customers won't stop buying products from fundamentally sound Apple just because its luminary is taking a breather on the sidelines, investment bank Piper Jaffray argues in a new report issued Wednesday evening.
With Apple chief executive Steve Jobs skipping out on this year's Macworld Expo, investment bank Piper Jaffray isn't holding high hopes for new product announcements outside a pair of refreshed Macs, but said in a report Tuesday that a redesigned iPhone should surface in the months that follow.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, one of the most outspoken figures on all things Apple, told clients on Wednesday that Steve Jobs' absence from this year's Macworld Expo signals "the beginning of a shift in leadership roles" at the company.
Macworld Expo host IDG still expects Apple chief Steve Jobs to keynote 2009's San Francisco show despite unusual silence on the matter. Apple, meanwhile, now has little to fear from Amazon's music store a year later. NPD also data shows Mac sales continuing to grow.
Investment bank Piper Jaffray said Thursday that weakness in consumer spending will bite into PC sales next year, including Apple's, leading the firm to cut its 2009 sales estimates for the Mac maker along with the broader market.
Although this year's holiday shopping season is expected to present challenges for many consumer-oriented hardware companies, Apple is already showing signs of bucking the trend with Black Friday Mac sales reported to be better than expected.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Tuesday issued one of his trademark reports to address a number 'unanswered questions surrounding the Apple story,' such as when the company plans to next update its iPhone and the prospects for an Apple netbook.
A slowing global economy had little impact on Apple's computer business last month, as consumers willingly plunked down their cash for the company's new MacBook offerings, helping to drive Mac sales up more than 25 percent year-over-year.
After spending 25 hours counting sales of iPhones and Macs at Apple's US-based retail chain, investment bank Piper Jaffray said it believes the company this quarter could meet or beat last quarter's record 2.6 million Mac sales total while again selling more than 6 million iPhones.
With just one day to go before Apple announces the results of its fourth fiscal quarter, market research firm NPD is out with its preliminary sales data for the three-month period, leading one expert to suggest the company sold upwards of 2.8 million Macs systems.
Apple in the last six months has broadened its lead among the teenage demographic in the areas of mobile phones and digital music, a critical indicator of the company's long-term growth prospects in those respective markets.
With Apple's September quarter having come and gone with the only major product transition consisting of slightly cheaper iPods, investment bank Piper Jaffray believes the company is once again in a position to outperform its own margin guidance despite widespread concern.
Even as stocks melted down on Monday and fears of tough recession set in, analysts at Piper Jaffray held strong to their Buy rating on shares of Apple, saying the company remains the best positioned amongst its peers to weather the economic storm.
While both Apple and Google appear to be emerging as pioneers in the mobile computing space, the iPhone sports a year-long head start over the Android-based G1 handset introduced Tuesday, and is unlikely to see any lost sales as a result, says investment bank Piper Jaffray.
Investment bank Piper Jaffray boosted its estimates for Apple's current quarter on Monday, noting that iPhones will for the first time account for a material portion of the company's booked revenue.
Apple saw its Mac sales growth decelerate last month, according to preliminary figures from market research firm NPD — a sign that a tepid consumer environment is impacting the company's business.
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Sam Oliver
Prince McLean
Katie Marsal
Zach Spear
Aidan Malley
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AppleInsider Staff
