Contrary to analyst comments made yesterday, Piper Jaffray said Wednesday that Apple’s iPod nano is “selling well.” The research firm said that all of the 20 Apple retail stores it contacted in a survey this week expressed that demand for the nano, especially the black nano, is high. “No store that we checked with had Black 4G nanos in stock,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a research note obtained by iLounge. “One store sold out of the Black 4G nano within the first three hours of availability and then sold out of the White 4G nano on the second day of availability.”
Munster also notes that Alexa.com web traffic data shows increased interest in Apple’s products. “Apple’s ‘traffic rank’ has recently spiked to all time highs, having a ranking of 39 on Sept. 12 vs. a ranking of 64 on June 30,” he said. “We believe that the publicity surrounding Apple’s launch of the new iPod nano, and to a lesser extent, the unveiling of Motorola’s ROKR phone, has fueled the spike in interest observed in the web traffic data.”
Apple may also be learning from past mistakes with product production, according to the analyst. “While the Apple stores are currently out of the Black 4G nano, we believe that Apple has learned from the production mistakes of the iPod mini made during last year’s holiday season and will produce enough of the iPod nano to meet demand,” Munster said. “This is based on comments from Apple in which they said their manufacturing partner has dedicated a facility solely to nano production. Thus, going forward, we believe that if the lead time of the nano increases, Apple would likely be selling more nanos than their initial aggressive expectations.”
