IBM’s G5 delays have hindered the rollouts of Power Mac G5 models as well as the new iMac G5 and “underscored the risks of relying on a single supplier but won’t hurt financial results in the short term,” Duncan Martell reports for Reuters. But, Apple won’t take much of a financial hit with their iMac delay.
“Cupertino, California-based Apple will suffer a small financial hit, said Roger Kay, a PC analyst at market research firm IDC, noting that the new iMac will miss out on the crucial back-to-school season. Education sales account for about 25 percent of Apple’s total revenue,” Martell reports. “Using 2003 shipments figures as a proxy, Kay said that one month of lost iMac production amounted to about 32,000 units, or about $32 million in sales, Kay said, which IDC translated to a bottom-line hit of about $260,000, after production costs, taxes and other costs. ‘We looked at that figure and said it’s not that big a deal,’ Kay said. ‘We think that kind of math is what led the company to make the decision they did (to delay the new iMac launch).'”
Full article here.