As we await Apple’s third-quarter earnings report, analysts are offering their opinion on what the Cupertino, Calif. company may announce. Will ‘Antennagate’ hurt iPhone sales, can the Mac escape the iPad’s shadow, and will the iPod continue its downward decline?
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Monday he foresees Mac sales of between 3.1 million and 3.2 million for the quarter, up 11 percent. This after sales of the Apple machines grew 35 percent in May and 39 percent in April. Apple likely will top the 2.94 million Mac sales Apple reported earlier in 2010, according to Munster.
Elsewhere, Munster predicts Apple will report selling 9.5 million iPhones during the quarter, higher than the 8.35 million consensus. The analyst also said iPod sales will fall 10 percent to between 9 million and 10 million units.
Will the hub-bub over the iPhone’s reception and Apple’s response, known collectively as “Antennagate” impact today’s results? Analyst had varying opinions, according to Fortune.
“The immediate-term question for Apple and investors is whether the company may be incrementally more cautious in its revenue and EPS guidance given potential lingering issues from “Antenna-Gate,” Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi told columnist Philip Elmer-Dewitt.
Others aren’t too concerned about any repercussions of the issue on Apple’s bottom-line.
“In aggregate, we view the antenna issue as wildly overblown and we expect it to pass, creating an opportunity for investors. The financial impact of the bumper offering is around$16-70M to Apple and simply not material to Apple financials,” Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore.
Apple is expected to release its third-quarter revenue figures today after the markets’ close.
