Apple’s Black Friday: Gloomy In-Store Sales Helped By Online Surge

Analysts expect lower Apple Store Black Friday sales; higher online shopping

Analysts predict lower Black Friday sales at Apple’s brick-and-mortar retail locations may be offset by a double-digit increase in online electronic purchases. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Mac sales were down compared to 2008, but warned investors it may be too early to predict Apple sales on the all-important after Thanksgiving shopping spree.

Munster said the analyst firm noticed 8.3 Macs sold each hour, a drop from 13 per hour last year. A team from Piper Jaffray counted Mac sales for nine hours in three retail stores Nov. 27.

“While the average number of Macs sold per hour was slightly down [year-over-year], we do not think we can make a call on Macs in the December quarter” using only this data,” Munster wrote. However, the analyst still expects 2.8 million Macs will have sold during the December period, judging by October NPD Group retail sales figures. NPD earlier in November announced expectations Mac sales rose seven percent compared to the previous year.

Other analysts reported a “strong” number of people visited Apple’s retail locations. Third-party resellers, such as Amazon.com, Wal-Mart and Target often found inventory tight due to aggressive discounting, according to Shaw Wu, a Kaufman Bros. analyst. Wu said iMacs (21.5-inch and 27-inch) along with the entry-level MacBook often meant low or no inventory due to “unexpected strong demand.” The strong demand seen at Apple resellers, with discounts up to 20 percent and included gift cards, was a striking contrast to the Cupertino, Calif. company that offered 4 percent to 10 percent discounts.

Although five weeks remain in the December quarter, the analyst said his forecast for 2.9 million Macs sold during the period “is likely conservative.”

Talk of slow sales for Apple retail stores is contrasted by high expectations. Apple reported September was its best quarter ever, announcing 7.4 million iPhones and 3 million Macs were sold during the period with a 46 percent jump in quarterly profits.

A potential downturn in Black Friday sales for physical Apple stores may be offset by increased online demand. Apple’s Web site traffic rose 39 percent compared to last year, according to Internet traffic firm comScore. Online retail giant Amazon.com, by comparison, saw a 28 percent jump in traffic, according to the online analysts.

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Overall, U.S. online shoppers spent $595 million during Black Friday, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.

[Via AppleInsider and 9to5Mac]

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