Yet another analyst Thursday joined the chorus of voices singing Apple’s praises in a sluggish PC market. Mac sales will grow 26 percent in 2010, far outstripping PCs forecast to grow just 16 percent year over year.
Looking forward, Robert Cichra, analyst with Caris & Company, predicted Apple will have 4 percent of the market share for 2010, providing what the analyst termed “considerable headroom” for more growth.
The analyst told investors 2010 would give Apple a growth rate 1.6 percent faster than the PC market. Cichra said Apple is “the single best PC market investment,” calling the Cupertino, Calif. company “the most (in fact only) innovative, highest-value (hardware and software) and profitable PC vendor.”
The comments echo an earlier report that Mac sales grew 16.4 percent in September, versus 2.3 percent. Needham and Co. analyst Charlie Wolf told investors the iPhone’s ‘halo effect’ may be a factor.
With an estimated $340 gross profit per unit, Apple is earning 2-3 times its peers, according to the analyst. The rise of netbooks in 2009 prompted a “brutal” decline in PC prices – an estimated 16 percent dive compared to the previous year.
However, PC makers may be learning a lesson from Apple, if two years too late. Although Apple lowered its prices of laptops versus desktops back in 2007, PC makers are just noticing the increasing popularity of notebooks over desktops. In early 2009, HP became the first PC maker to set its average laptop price lower than its desktops, according to the analyst.
[Via AppleInsider]
