Apple Earnings: Noise Trading
There are some very interesting numbers in Apple’s third-quarter press release. Apple has also disclosed more numbers in its conference call which is still in progress. Some highlights:
3.05 million Macs sold this quarter, up 17 percent from a year ago. The overall PC market is expected to grow just 2 percent in the third quarter. That means Apple earnings is taking market share from Windows still. But average selling prices per Mac are down. Sales outside the U.S. were stronger than sales inside the U.S.
10.2 million iPods sold this quarter, down 8 percent from 11 million a year ago. The iPod Touch sales were up 100 percent year-over-year.
7.4 million iPhones sold in the quarter, up 7 percent from a year ago. That’s a new record. iPhone sell through in the quarter was up 38 percent over a year ago.
China and Korea are expected to roll iPhones out in fourth quarter. Canada and UK are expected to add a second iPhone carrier.
Attack on Mac:
Iphone carriers have reported in recent surveys that supply constraints have eased, which means Apple could meet its delivery targets. Another area that could help drive Apple’s earnings higher than expected profits are iPod sales. The portable music player’s design has just been upgraded, which could boost sales. Back to school sales this fall could also drive Mac sales higher than expected.