The beat goes on for Apple as the tech giant continues to increase Mac sales amid declining PC demand. The release of a new MacBook Air and the long-awaited Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” software pushed U.S. Mac sales 26 percent higher during the first portion of the three-month September quarter, Wall Street experts say.
The new product releases converts into Mac sales more than six-times that of PC rivals, fueled by the July 7 launch of Lion, as well as refreshed MacBook Airs and Mac minis, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Apple will probably meet Wall Street’s consensus for 4.5 million Mac sales during the quarter, he said. However, Munster warns investors the early sales boost is likely to fade as Apple enters later stages of the quarter.
“These tailwinds will fade throughout the September quarter and year-over-year compares get slightly tougher in the last two months of the quarter,” the analyst writes.
Despite the caution, Barclays’ analyst Ben Reitzes believes Mac sales growth for the quarter will hit 18 percent year-over-year – and that is conservative despite a slowing world economy. “We believe Apple will continue to gain share in Macs over the long term even as the iPad grows,” he tells investors.
I’m not certain Apple will face a tougher time posting growth in the later months of the September financial quarter, given the built-in sales opportunities of back-to-school and early holiday spending. At this point, Apple is only competing with itself, an enviable position for PC makers searching for a lifeboat.
