American Technology Research analyst, Shaw Wu, thinks Apple has the industryis most powerful and complete collection of hardware, software and services for the digital entertainment space, and that the company is well positioned for above market growth. Projected sales for the September quarter, however, may be set aggressively high at US$5 billion.
Macintosh sales for the June quarter are expected to be strong, accounting for about 50 percent of the Appleis revenue, and making up for any drop in iPod sales. The nearly complete transition to Intel processors has helped Mac sales, as has Boot Camp - Appleis software that lets you boot an Intel-based Mac from Mac OS X or Windows XP.
Mr. Wu predicts that iPod sales will be slightly lower for the quarter, and will account for about 37 percent of Appleis revenue. iPod nano shipments seem to be down, but that may be in part due to Apple intentionally driving inventories down. Stronger iPod and iPod shuffle sales are helping to offset that. In the report, Mr. Wu comments "As a result, we are reducing our iPod unit forecast to 8.3 million from 8.5 million."
The June quarter looks to be on target, and Mr. Wu expects Apple to meet or exceed the upper end of the $4.2-$4.4 billion in revenue and $0.39-$0.42 in EPS the company is predicting.
American Technology Research is maintaining a "Buy" rating and $101 target price for Apple.
Apple stock is currently trading at $57.37, down 0.24 (0.42%).
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