Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Wednesday issued a research report that looked at the NPD iPod sales data for May, concluding that Apple is on track to sell 7.7 to 8.2 million iPods this quarter. "While the Street iPod numbers for June still remain around 8.6m units," he wrote, "we believe the Street is well aware the iPod number is tracking closer to 8.0m. We see a stabilization in the iPod number as a positive."
Mr. Munster noted that Appleis iPod market share in May was 76%, which was flat with April. However, he said: "The iPod number will likely be a nonevent for the June quarter. More importantly, we believe the Mac number has room for upside. We expect new versions of iPod and positive seasonality will be a catalyst for this segment of the business in the back half of 2006."
The analyst retained his "Outperform" rating on Appleis stock, with a US$99 price target. At the closing of trading on Wednesday, AAPL shares were selling for $57.61, down 1.23% for the day.