Apple later this month is expected to announce fiscal first quarter revenues of nearly $10 billion for the three-month period ending December, fueled largely by the ongoing resurgence of the company"s personal computer business, according one Wall Street analyst.
In a research note issued to clients Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster downplayed concerns surrounding Apple"s retail channels, saying he expects the company to announce record first quarter sales of approximately 2.3 million Macs.
He noted that data from market research firm NPD for the first two months of the December quarter indicates that Mac sales growth was up some 60 percent year-over-year. Figuring conservatively, the analyst said sales of 2.3 million Macs would indicate growth of 43 percent year-over-year compared to 28 percent yearly growth during the same quarter last year.
"While there were reports that Apple Taiwanese supplier Catcher missed its quarter due to a cancelled Apple order, we confirmed with Catcher that it did not say the miss was due to Apple," he wrote. "We now expect Apple to report iPod sales of 25 million to 26 million, which is slightly ahead of the Street expectations of 24.7 million units."