14 DAY TRIAL // Despite conservative guidance and warnings of a potentially expensive product transition, Apple seems to be set to have a successful quarter. Channel checks from Piper Jaffray indicate that Apple will not only meet many its goals for the quarter, but outdo them. Both Macs and iPhones are selling very well and with new iPod expected sooner than later Apple is still on a roll.
Gene Munster's channel checks indicate that Apple will meet its target of selling 730,000 iPhones in the September quarter. In fact, the numbers indicate that the company's sales are more likely to reach 804,000 phones in the quarter. The analyst also expects Apple to sell two million Macs over the course of the quarter, ahead of his earlier estimate of 1,900,000. According to Munster's findings, the average Apple Store sells 55 Macs per day, which would add up to 866,000 units in the quarter that will have been sold from Apple's retail outlets alone.
The iPhone itself has been selling very well and not just amongst the smart phone segment. Recent researches such as that published by iSuppli indicate that 1.8 percent of all cellphones sold in the US during July were iPhones, regardless of class. Much like the iPod, the iPhone seems to be a universal product that appeals to everyone equally, regardless of whether they are business users or average customers. The iPhone came out at a tie with the best-selling feature phone on the market, the LG Chocolate, though iSuppli would not say whether this applied to the original model on sale with Verizon or its recent upgrade.
If at today's media event Apple unveils the new iPod line-up it will undoubtedly capture the interest of buyers everywhere, however, not all of the new iPod might be available for purchase immediately and as such their impact on Apple's quarter might be rather limited.