UBS Unvestment Research analayst Maynard Um, in a note to investors on Moday, obtained bt TMO, reported on lowered forecasts for PC notebook unit growth in the second half of 2008 for Europe and the U.S. Apple is not affected.
Compal, an Original Device Manufacturer (ODM), is one of Dellis largest corporate notebook suppliers and recently lowered its unit growth forcast from 20 percent to 15 percent. The report has Mr. Um cautious abou consensus estimatates for growth. Also, given even more aggressive pricing and a new breed of low cost notebooks PCs, heis watching the Average Selling Prices (ASP) closely.
However, the UBS analyst has no such concerns for Apple. He believes the company will benefit from product refreshes, potential price elasticity and the iPhone.
The price elasticity refers to the fact that when prices go down, demand goes up. A good example of that was when Apple reduced the price of the iPod shuffle recently and sales surged.
Mr. Um believes that Dell will benefit from new products as well, but "execution risk remains."