Apple: New Mac Mini Could Be Sleeper Hit

Could the next hit product from Apple (AAPL) be the new version of the Mac Mini?

In a research note Wednesday morning, Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu writes that the new version of the Mini “could be a sleeper hit.” Wu reports hearing “surprise positive feedback” on the Mini from distribution partners and customers. He writes that the decision to use Nvidia (NVDA) chipsets, providing improved graphics performance, “is being warmly received.” Wu says he would have liked to see a lower price point, but that others note you now get more for your $599, including a large hard drive, a SuperDrive DVD burner and those faster graphics. “To us, the new Mac Mini is like a Mini Cooper, a premium small form factor product but with decent horsepower. We believe the Mac Mini could turn out to be a surprise dark horse hit.”

Meanwhile, Wu writes in his research note that the overall reception for the new Macs “seems fairly positive,” and that current Street estimates for Mac unit shipments in the March quarter of 2.2 million to 2.3 million could turn out to be conservative.

Wu also writes that some users would have liked to see a quad-core iMac, but that one could be forthcoming after the launch of Snow Leopard, the new version of the Mac operating system, which he thinks will arrive in the summer or fall. Wu also says his sources say the company is working on “several initiatives,” including a potentially smaller MacBook Air form factor, “which would essentially be a netbook,” and a larger form factor iPod Touch.

This morning, the company unveiled a new version of the iPod Shuffle; speculation on other new devices continues.

Wu repeats his Buy rating and $120 price target.

Apple this morning is up $4.18, or 3.7%, to $92.81.

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Comments

[Phantom Gre...:]

The new Mac Mini is a nice product, but it's much too expensive to be a "sleeper hit". Especially in a recession/depression.

Mar 11 09:43 PM

[mollytjm:]

it's not expensive for what you get...which includes great Apple tech support. in difficult financial times, there are plenty of people who want the best value for the $, not necessarily the cheapest product. and there are others who already have a monitor and keyboard, but a clunker of a pc, so the only thing they'd need is the computer itself. the mini would be great for that situation.
i think the term 'sleeper' could apply to people, like me, who've never considered it before, but now...i'd like to send it to my Dad who lives in Florida and is 92, so dragging his imac someplace to get upgrades or whatever, is pretty rough. But he could manage to take the mini to the Apple store or even send it up here to me so i could do it. There's a flexibility with the mini that i never really considered before and i'm probably not the only one rethinking it.

Mar 12 11:03 AM

[Fremont Rea...:]

It's cute and spending $600 for cute doesn't cut it. It needs to be priced like a cute product.

Mar 12 02:06 PM