Apple: Mac Sales Accelerated in January

The bugaboo in Apple’s (AAPL) December quarter earnings report was that Mac sales were a little lighter than people had expected. So Apple bulls will be heartened to know that they seem to be selling like hotcakes in the current quarter.

Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest , points out in a brief research note today that the latest NPD data on PC sales show Mac sales up 108% year-over-year in January in dollars, and up 101% in units. December unit sales were up 55% year over year. He also notes that average selling prices for Macs increased 4% in the month on a year-over-year basis and 1% on a sequential basis.

Mac notebook sales were especially strong, with units up 194% year-over-year in January, and a 221% increase in year-over-year notebook revenues, thanks to a higher ASP. January was the third highest revenue month ever for Mac notebooks, Hargreaves notes.

Hargreaves notes that the first month of the quarter has typically accounted for 7%-9% of quarterly Mac data - at least, that has been the case for the last eight quarters. If that trend holds, he says, Mac sales in the quarter would “significantly exceed” his current estimate of 1.495 million units.

Apple today is up $2.87 at $87.48.

Comments

[Richard Alv...:]

Apple: Mac Sales Accelerated in January...
Wait u mean tell me that people wait until after MacWorld to buy a new computer!!!!!

2007 Mar 01 03:26 PM

[Malkiel:]

LOL, hardly! You'll be lucky to find 1 in say, 300,000 pc users who know what MacWorld is. The jump is the first wave of Windows users saying "Hasta la Vista, baby!..."

2007 Mar 01 05:13 PM

[Jay Leonard1:]

Eric,

To be fair there was an extra week in January this year. Things are going well but not THAT well. If I had the NPD data i would have normalised it to try and account for the extra time. Assuming all 5 weeks were the same the increase would be overstated by 20%. Not an insignificant number. Just sayin...

Jay

2007 Mar 01 09:53 PM

[Julian Ivan...:]

Jay,

So... notebook sales grew by 170% YoY in January instead of 194%... you call that NOT a big deal?

So total Mac sales via NPD-covered channels are up 80% instead of 100%? That's NOT a big deal?

Lol... I don't know what planet you're from, but I call that a BIG deal.

"Just sayin..."

2007 Mar 02 05:51 AM

[brettdecarion:]

Um, last time I checked there was still only 31 days in January.

2007 Mar 02 12:00 PM

[Jay Leonard1:]

Tommo,

Don't get me wrong, I love AAPL long the stock, great story. I just thought by both leaving out hard numbers of sales and omitting the extra week gives a misleading picture.

It was more a rap on the reporting of the story than of the story. To that end...80% of 194% is 155%

2007 Mar 02 09:10 AM