Retailers struggle to keep iPods in stock
updated 02:55 pm EST, Mon December 5, 2005
Retailers iPod stock
Investment research firm PiperJaffray today reported that its checks of Apple retail stores reveal that Apple is "highly stocked" heading into the holiday season, while third-party retailers are "struggling to replenish" supplies. Reiterating an "outperform" rating, the firm said that the distribution limitations may limit iPod sales and that Apple may not be able hit iPod shipment numbers estimated by some Wall Street analysts. Late last week, 8 of 10 Apple stores had all iPods in stock; however, only 2 of the 20 third-party retailers, however, had all varieties of iPod. Inventory for both the iPod and nano remains spotty at third-party retailers, with 17 out of 20 indicating that they are missing at least one type of nano (2GB or 4GB) and 15 of 20 missing at least one of the larger (30GB or 60GB) iPods.
The firm is currently modeling for total iPod shipments of 9.0 million. "We do believe slight upside to our estimate is achievable, but we do not expect Apple will be able to ship the number of units that are already anticipated in some Street models."
"Apple will likely be unable to achieve some high-end Street estimates for Dec-05, but more importantly, we see a continuation of strong demand for both iPod and Mac. Additionally, we believe 2006 will be a more robust product year than 2005 (see details on expectations for 2006 on page 4 of this note)."
