Piper Jaffray survey shows Apple sales are strong
The investment banking firm Piper Jaffray performed a survey of 25 Apple retail stores last week and concluded that second quarter sales for Apple might not be so bad after all.
Piper Jaffray watched Apple retail stores around the U.S. last week, and estimated that Apple was selling an average of 22 iPhones a day and 28 Macs a day in the 25 stores surveyed. Based on an extrapolation of that survey information, it appears that Apple will have sold 3.7 million iPhones and 2.2 million Macs over the last fiscal quarter, according to a CNET story. If the survey is correct, that is a pretty good quarter for Apple.
This is important because Apple will report its earnings for the second fiscal quarter next week. The technology sector is keenly interested in seeing if Apple has dodged the bullet of the economic recession for the second quarter in a row. Few observers are expecting huge sales out of Apple for the latest quarter, but the Piper Jaffray survey indicates at least solid sales for the period.
In terms of Mac sales, it appears likely that sales will decline on a year-to-year basis for the first time in quite awhile. Earlier in the year Piper thought second quarter Mac sales could go as low as 2 million units for the quarter. With the store survey in hand, they now believe that the iMac upgrade earlier this month will boost the sales estimate to 2.2 million units. That is fewer than the 2.3 million units sold in last year’s second quarter, but not by much.
Piper Jaffray now expects 3.7 million iPhone unit sales, based on the survey. That is, of course, far lower than the 4.4 million units they had been expecting earlier. However, they now think that international sales, not considered by the store survey, may add to the sales total. They are therefore sticking with their projection of 4.4 million iPhone sales. There has not previously been much of a track record for sales of the iPhone, but analysts are beginning to see a pattern in which sales are higher in the second half of the calendar year, after new models are introduced.
All of this seems like good news for Apple. If Piper Jaffray is correct in their estimates based on the 25-store survey, Apple will have gotten through another quarter with healthier comparative sales than most of the competition. Staying even, or just dropping back slightly, in the face of the current world recession is a major feat.
Related Posts:
April 18th, 2009
Whoa. And Apple hasn’t even announced its back-to-school specials yet.