TMO Reports - Analysts: PortalPlayer's Q2 Guidance Implies Soft iPod Sales

by , 10:20 AM EDT, May 2nd, 2006

Wedbush Morgan Securities analysts Craig Berger and James Schneider on Tuesday issued a research report looking at PortalPlayer, pointing to second quarter revenue guidance that they believe implies a 15-20% drop in iPod shipments from the first quarter. PortalPlayer previously provided system-on-a-chip (SOC) processors for the iPod nano but said on April 20 it had lost the contract for upcoming models of the flash-based MP3 player.

While the company still provides Apple with SOC processors for the standard iPod and has other lines of business, the Wedbush analysts characterized PortalPlayer's loss of the iPod nano socket as "one of the uber-bear case scenarios that investors have feared." They added: "[This] has a disastrous impact on PortalPlayer's profitability in light of the fact that iPod nano chip shipments once comprised 70% of our 2007 revenue."

The analysts also pulled expected standard iPod sales from PortalPlayer's revenue forecast "in light of Apple's apparent ability to switch chip suppliers at will." They are among the industry watchers who expect Apple to release a redesigned video iPod sometime this year, and they had previously said they expect Apple to use PortalPlayer's solution in such a device. They still believe that to be the case, but only because competitor Broadcom does not have an SOC processor that's better than PortalPlayer's offering.