“JMP Securities analyst Samuel Wilson wrote in a research note that his checks with 30 retail stores – 20 Apple stores and 10 Best Buys – found most sales people steering customers away from the MacBook Pro and toward the less expensive MacBook. ‘We were repeatedly told that that Pro is designed for the design community, with a high-end video card and large screen, and that we would be better with a MacBook for the cost,’ he writes,” Eric Savitz reports for Barron’s.
“Meanwhile, Wilson also writes that Apple has canceled memory orders recently with Asian suppliers. He thinks it could indicate that sales have not met forecasted demand. Wilson also notes that growth is slowing in the computer business overall, and that ‘with much of the world on the brink of or entering a recession, it is just that much more difficult for Apple to put up high growth rates,'” Savitz reports.
“Finally, Wilson thinks low-cost small form factor netbooks from competitors on the PC side ‘could create a real challenge for high-priced Apple products.’ Concludes Wilson: ‘At this point, valuation is not compelling,'” Savitz reports. “He maintains a Market Perform rating on the stock.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Mr. Wilson is either confused or something else. Either way, the conclusions he seems to have drawn are wrong.
“One factor for next quarter’s guidance and [lower] gross margins is a future product transition which I cannot discuss today… We are very confident in our product pipeline… We will be delivering state-of-the-art new products that our competitors will not be able to match going forward.” – Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer during Apple’s Q308 Conference Call, July 21, 2008
So-called “analysts” really should listen in to conference calls of companies that they’re supposed to be “analyzing.”