“Banc of America Securities expects Apple Computer to meet the consensus estimate for iPod sales of 5.5 million units in the fiscal third quarter ending in June,” Forbes reports.
BofA expects Apple’s iPod business will reaccelerate into the seasonally strong September and December quarters. The firm said:
“Apple’s domination in digital music is a critical piece to the story, but we do not believe iPod is the only growth avenue for the company. Indirectly, we expect iPod to continue to be a foundation for growth in other parts of Apple’s business, and we expect that by the end of calendar 2005 more than 35 million iPods will have shipped, providing Apple with a greater scope of awareness for various products.”
BofA said that the iPod Halo Effect seems to have taken place, noting that 1.07 million Macintosh computers shipped in the March quarter and noted a report from NPD that shows that Apple gained 2% in U.S. retail market share in the month of May.
MacDailyNews Take: 5.5 million iPod unit sold would be very strong performance in a historically weak quarter (there must have been a lot of moms and grads and dads getting Apple iPods). If these estimates are even remotely accurate, Apple sold it’s 20 millionth iPod sometime in early June and will have sold a total of about 21.5 million iPods by the end of this month. Apple Computer is due to report Q3 05 financial results on July 13.