Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, in a report obtained by TMO Wednesday, said that his preliminary analysis, based on January sales data from NPD, is that Apple will sell between 11 and 12 million iPods this quarter.
Their internal estimate has been 10.3 m and the "street consensus" 10.9 m. Mr. Munster pointed out that the sales data available was extrapolated from the month of January only and stressed that when February data is available, the estimate may change. As a result, Mr. Muster said, "...we believe investors should supplement this data point with other information."
The analysis was based on looking at the relative contribution, in previous years, of Januaryis contribution to the quarter ending in March. That analysis led to the 11 to 12 million estimate.