iMacs Inventory High; Sales Low As Desktop Slump Hits Apple

by , 11:00 AM EDT, June 26th, 2002

Remember when you had to wait several weeks to get your mitts on a shiny new iMac? Apple couldn't make them fast enough. Like a good memory, those days seems to be gone, at least for now. News.com is reporting that some distributors of Apple products to retail stores are carrying a far greater inventory than what either Apple or the distributors would like. The article titled "Bushels of new iMacs piling up" says:

Distribution giant Ingram Micro shows more than 2,600 of the machines in stock, according to sources close to the company. With last week's orders from dealers amounting to less than 200 units, Ingram is sitting on more than 15 weeks' worth of inventory. That excess may be less severe at other stores and distributors, but it's clearly a troubling sign, analysts say.

"That level of inventory is definitely disconcerting," said ARS analyst Matt Sargent, who added that he had not personally seen the iMac inventory numbers.

Apple can take some consolation in the knowledge that it is not the only computer maker suffering from poor sales. From the article:

Other PC makers in the consumer market are facing difficult times as well. April was one of the worst months for PCs in recent years, with sales down 22.5 percent for U.S. retailers, leaving the largest retail PC seller, Hewlett-Packard, with 10 weeks of inventory for Compaq Computer PCs and seven weeks for HP PCs, according to NPD Techworld. Normally, three weeks are considered ideal.

Stop by News.com for the full article.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Has the iMac bubble popped so soon? Hindsight says that Apple's iMac price hike was a mistake, though we were among those who thought the company could get away with it. In fact, we are very surprised that the company has not lowered the price of the iMac by now, especially considering the fact that component prices have since fallen. A lower price might stir some additional demand for the units.

While mostly a victim of the bad overall PC market, Apple has largely been able to show that it was immune to the negative trends of its competitors during the last two years. That clearly isn't a good sign for Apple's short term stock price, but we have little doubt that the company will weather the storm.

One benefit to anyone thinking about buying a new iMac, promotions are bound to spring up like dandelions after a Spring rain. Get that checkbook ready.

Bushels of new iMacs piling up