|
123webguru News Desk
Apple Shares Slide on Reports of a Slowdown in iPod Sales
SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 - Shares of Apple Computer dropped almost 5 percent on Friday on speculation that the company might be experiencing a slowdown in sales of iPods, the product that has largely driven its phenomenal growth the last few years.
The concern came after an independent Web site, AppleInsider.com, reported that shipments of iPods, the portable digital music players, appeared to be "flat or declining" this month, and that the product was "overstocked."
That followed a report released Thursday by Goldman Sachs that said it expected shipments of iPods to be flat this quarter and that Apple might need to seek more sales growth from its Macintosh computers. Goldman rates Apple stock as neutral.
Apple's shares declined $1.80 yesterday, to close at $38.24.
Apple officials declined to comment on the reports. AppleInsider.com is one of three Web sites involved in a dispute over whether Apple can force the sites to divulge the identity of their sources of confidential Apple information. A California judge has ruled that Apple can subpoena the sites, but that ruling has been appealed.
Gene A. Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said that any excess inventory of iPods, if true, would not concern him, because the June quarter is seasonally the weakest of the year. Over all, he said, demand for iPods remains strong. "What we're seeing is seasonal weakness combined with better production," said Mr. Munster, who has an outperform rating on the stock.
In April, Apple told investors it had sold 5.3 million iPods during the second quarter, including sales of the new iPod Shuffle. Analysts predicted that iPod sales would be flat or slightly up during the current quarter, which closes at the end of June.
Apple's sales typically surge in the fall as the education market begins stocking up on products, followed by another surge before the holidays. The Goldman Sachs report forecast iPod sales of 8.5 million during the holiday quarter, compared with 4.6 million in the 2004 holiday quarter.
Investors may also have been reacting to news of a proposed legal settlement involving battery problems with early versions of the iPod, though the settlement is not expected to have a big impact on Apple's earnings.
Under the terms of the proposal, Apple has agreed to replace some iPods and give other iPod customers vouchers worth up to $50. Details of the proposed settlement are at www.appleipodsettlement.com.
News Source
http://www.nytimes.com
Top News
News of the Week
All News
Website design company
 |
|
123webguru Articles
Developing a Highly Profitable Opt-In List
An opt-in list is the absolute most effective marketing tool available on the Internet. Not only do they provide you with a direct line of communication ...
Credibility of your website
After designing a website, a lot of strategies and planning goes into in order to make your website a success. The uphill competition in order to gain ...
Page Ranking Strategy
Page Ranking is one of the most important constituent of overall website design success. Every website owner wants his website design to hold the top position ...
Navigation of the website
Navigation is "Key" to any website. In absence of proper navigation, the visitors to the website might get misguided in the mess of webpages ...
About Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets, also known as CSS, is the most famous word among most of the website design companies. More or less, every website design company ...
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization
Every search engine has its own algorithm that determines the ranking of documents within search results. A search engine algorithm ...
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
