Apple fans, investors and market analysts, all are thinking and discussing one thing at this moment: Growth of Apple. They are ready to announce their 3rd quarter earnings today after the market closes. Earlier we saw how Industry gains Momentum, MAC Rises, PC Falls. And now, analysts are predicting that Apple could beat its own guidance, signaling that the tech industry is poised for a rebound, beyond recession.
Apple can prove the industry that they are among the Top-Recession resistant companies. Here are the top speculations:
Speculations Sources: CRN, Macrumors, Betanews
- Apple iPhone sales up: This is the most obvious one: iPhone has become an icon. The Apple iPhone 3G S sold more than 1 million units in its first weekend, not a bad way to close out a quarter. That, along with Apple slashing the price on the standard iPhone 3G, should mean a strong showing for the iPhone in the third quarter. In the first two quarters, Apple reportedly sold roughly 8.2 million iPhones, and analysts expect that Apple sold about 5.3 million in just the third quarter – a 40% increase over the second quarter – showing that Apple’s foray into smartphones is for real and not going anywhere.
- Record-Breaking Mac sales: Several analysts say Apple sold a record number of Macs in the third quarter. North American Mac sales were up 16 percent in June compared to one year ago and Mac sales altogether rose about 5 percent in the third quarter, according to The NPD Group. That means Apple sold about 2.6 million Macs in the third quarter. If NPD Group’s numbers are correct, Apple is teetering on a record-setting third quarter for Mac sales.
- Price cuts didn’t negate Apple 3Q Results: This is realted to the Earlier one. Apple had cut prices for some MacBook Pro notebooks in the third quarter, but the lower margin won’t hit earnings too hard. The demand is still there for MacBook Pro notebooks, and the price cut spurred additional sales. And record Mac sales and the release of the higher-priced the iPhone 3G S should offset some of the cash lost to MacBook price cuts.
- iPod sales might go down: If Mac sales and iPhone sales are up, something’s got to give. In the third quarter, it looks like the Apple iPod, the leader of portable digital music players, will take a hit. Apple sold 11 million iPods last year. This year, NPD expects Apple to report sales of 9.6 million. Part of the reason iPod sales are down is over-saturation of the market. It’s also possible that Apple is competing with itself, offering overlapping functionality with the iPod and the iPhone. “One of these days iPod sales will decline, and maybe it will be this quarter,” Andy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, told BusinessWeek.
- The Apple App store will be more Lucrative: Apple has maintained that its mobile application marketplace, the iTunes-based Apple App Store, isn’t a money-making venture. But since the store launched last July, more than 1.5 billion free and paid mobile applications have been sold, roughly 500 million of those in the third quarter. Not too shabby. And with a good percentage of those applications paid for, App Store sales are sure to help Apple’s bottom line.
Remarkably, Everything is +ve for Apple. Let’s see how much of it comes out to be true.
