New MacBook production orders anticipated in mid-May
updated 12:52 pm EDT, Thu April 25, 2013
June-quarter shipments expected to grow 10 percent over previous quarter
Apple's June-quarter MacBook shipments should increase about 10 percent over the previous quarter, say DigiTimes supply chain sources. The people claim that Apple has almost finished consuming excess inventory, and will probably start placing new orders in mid-May. Most of the ordered systems will likely be Haswell-based MacBooks, the sources comment.
The estimated sequential growth would represent only a minor aid to Apple's shipments, since the company only sold about 4 million Macs in total during the March quarter. The sources speculate that MacBook shipments for the whole of 2013 might only see single-digit percentage growth, far lower than the roughly 30 percent boost Apple has seen in some years.
The people add that they haven't received any instructions from Apple to make major modifications for the MacBook Pro or iMac. Both systems are therefore likely to just get specification boosts sometime this year. Still in limbo are the Mac Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Air. The Pro hasn't seen a significant update since 2010.
