Analyst upbeat on AAPL

The concerns over a slow down in Apple's Mac sales due to the Intel transition are overblown, according to one analyst. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, who maintains a 'outperform' rating on AAPL with a price target of $103, said that concerns over the short-term sales impact during the Intel transition are "blown out of proportion," according to Forbes.com: "There may not be significant upside to Apple estimates over the next two quarters based on the Intel transition, but we believe numbers are achievable and we see now as the time to get positioned for the next peak," the analyst wrote in a research note to client on Tuesday. The firm said that only 20 percent of the Apple specialist resellers it contacted indicated that they have seen a measurable slowdown in Mac sales due to customers waiting during Intel transition.

The report found that the remaining 80 percent of the surveyed resellers feel that their Mac business has not been impacted. The report found that most expect an increase in year-over-year sales (60 percent) and that some (40 percent) expect sales to be flat over the same quarter last year. Based on the results, the firm said it was expecting a modest 7 percent increase in sales for the March quarter. However, most resellers indicated decline in iPod sales--but Munster said that the "slight" decline was expected, according to the Forbes report.

"This is not a surprise," said Munster, who expects iPod units to decline 36% quarter-over-quarter in March.

by MacNN Staff