Apple seen selling 20 million iPods during holiday quarter

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Apple seen selling 20 million iPods during holiday quarter

Apple could sell 20 million iPods, worth about $3.3 billion in revenue, this holiday quarter, according to one analyst. Carl Howe of Blackfriars Communications says Apple could have a blowout quarter based on past quarterly sales, new iPod pricing that addresses more market segments, and the growing number of Apple retail stores. Howe also says that consumers have more reasons than ever to choose the iPod—music, TV shows, movies, and a plethora of accessories.

“Yes, the iPod is a mature product, and I’m sure we’ll see new refreshes of both the product and the consumer experience next year. But mature products are the ones that make big dollars,” Howe says. “Apple is well on its way to reaping the profits from five years of investments in music and retail. And because few other companies have invested as much for as long, it will also take years for anyone to dislodge it from its now dominant position.”

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Comments

1

My company bought some of the new shuffles as promo items and they are very cool, even with limited functionality and no display. I am going to help Apple achieve their $3.3 billion expectation and buy three new shuffles for my nieces.

Posted by genius on November 13, 2006 at 8:51 AM (PST)

2

Yes, the iPod is a mature product, and I’m sure we’ll see new refreshes of both the product and the consumer experience next year.
I take that as a confirmation of a 6G iPod early 2007. About time too.

Posted by JuanoTejano on November 13, 2006 at 10:23 AM (PST)

3

I wish these people spoke English. Does “refreshing the consumer experience” mean shipping iTunes software that isn’t slower than dirt and full of bugs?

I miss the days of not spending almost an hour to manipulate a few tracks and iTunes not leaving temp files on my hard drive *every* time I close it.

Posted by stark23x on November 13, 2006 at 12:29 PM (PST)

4

Juano said, “I take that as a confirmation of a 6G iPod early 2007. About time too.”

Sorry, Juano, but the guy who said all of this is just an analyst, and doesn’t work for Apple. His words are not a confirmation of anything.

Posted by BJ Nemeth on November 13, 2006 at 5:03 PM (PST)

5

Hi all,

Yup, I’m just an analyst. I’ve been trying to model and predict Apple’s sales for more than a year now. I have one trend I can report on—despite a year of study and analysis, my estimates have never exceeded Apple’s actual shipments. So while there’s no guarantee Apple will hit those numbers, history suggests that the actual numbers will actually be higher, not lower.

Carl

Posted by Carl Howe on November 13, 2006 at 5:15 PM (PST)

6

Hey Carl (if that is really you, we don’t know for sure). Isn’t 20M a bit of a jump from 8-9M in ‘normal’ quarters? I hope they do sell that many but it seems a bit of a high estimate.

Posted by Pikemann_Urge on November 14, 2006 at 12:45 AM (PST)

7

So while there’s no guarantee Apple will hit those numbers, history suggests that the actual numbers will actually be higher, not lower.

So, has Vegas established a line on this yet?

Considering that in previous quarters, more than a few market analysts have had to downward adjust their iPod sales estimates, a result like 20M should prove interesting given the warmed-over feel of most of current product line and that this figure would surpass the 2005 same quarter results by 33%. Seems like a lot of result to expect from the new Shuffle, but then I don’t call myself an analyst, either.

Probably a GOOD thing that Sony and Nintendo can’t make any more PS3s and Wiis for the season. I suppose people gotta spend their tech money on something.

Maybe that’s what MSFT is banking on (no…praying for) as well.

Posted by flatline response on November 14, 2006 at 8:20 AM (PST)

8

I have already bought 2 1GB nanos (white) for my wife’s nephews and will probably buy a 2g nano to replace my daughter’s mini.

Posted by ucfgrad93 on November 14, 2006 at 11:19 AM (PST)

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