“Shares of Apple Inc. slumped further south on Wednesday amid a weakening macroeconomic outlook and reports of additional production cuts affecting not only the company’s handhelds, but also its red-hot notebook business,” Slash Lane reports for AppleInsider.
“Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Research, told clients in a research note this week that the Cupertino-based company has reduced orders for its handheld devices for the second time in as many months, likely reflecting less-than-expected sell-through in the fourth [calendar] quarter of 2007, or thus far in the first [calendar] quarter of 2008,” Lane reports. “‘For both iPods and iPhones, we believe Apple was previously targeting a roughly 50 percent quarter-over-quarter decline for first quarter units, whereas, we now think the firm is targeting a 60 percent quarter-over-quarter unit decline for first quarter units,’ he wrote.”
“The FBR analyst said his checks indicate the company has cut its first quarter MacBook build forecast by about 50 percent compared to the prior quarter, down from 35 percent upon his last check.,” Lane reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The possibility exists that this change in iPod production might not be a sign of sales weakness, but rather a shift in expected sales from older models to the newer models with greater storage capacity that were just released on Tuesday. If this is the case, these changes would also telegraph that new MacBook models are coming soon.
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