01/18/2008, 10:45am, EST
Friday, January 18th
Apple to discuss FY08 results on Jan 22
Apple today announced that it will discuss its fiscal year 2008 first quarter results via conference call on January 22nd at 2:00 p.m. PST. Apple is expected to post better-than-expected earnings based on strong Mac sales, newly-introduced iPods, and favorable commodity pricing during the quarter. What's more, the forthcoming quarterly results will reveal Apple's performance during the busy holiday shopping season. The company will provide live audio streaming of the conference call using its own QuickTime multimedia software, and is offering a live audio webcast accessible via its website.
Industry analyst Gene Munster of research firm Piper Jaffray believes that Apple's holiday quarter results hinge on Mac sales, which he says could reach 2.3 million to beat average estimates of 2.2 million.
"Despite concerns regarding the channel, we believe Apple will announce December Mac units of around 2.3 million," Munster wrote in a research note obtained by MacNN. "NPD data for the first two months of the quarter suggests 60 percent year-over-year growth in Mac sales (vs. the Street at 41 percent year-over-year). If Apple sells 2.3 million units, it would be a significant positive; 2.3 million Macs represents 43 percent growth year-over-year compared to 28 percent year-over-year in December-06 and 20 percent in December-05."
The analyst also believes that Apple's newly-introduced MacBook Air could add significantly to the global PC market share and fuel market share gains for the Cupertino-based company.
"While we estimate that ultraportables count for 15 percent of total portable computer sales, we believe the segment is the fastest growing segment in the PC market," explained Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster. "MacBook Air appears to be innovative enough to claim a leading position within the ultraportable market."
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The problem is the 'whisper' number, which is usually better (and closer) to the released number.
Then again, this analyst thinks the MacBook Air is going to take the portable market by storm. So he seems to have the same intelligence as most analysts...
What it will do, is cannibalize sales from an area that Sony and other makers of ultra-thins formerly dominated -- i.e. it will jump into yet another specialized market, and make it Apple's own. *THAT* I do see happening.