Analyst: Apple’s Mac strategy spells upside

“Apple, which holds its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, is enjoying healthy dollar growth in its Mac business, according to analyst firm Needham & Company,” James Rogers reports for TheStreet. “‘Apple’s discipline in holding Mac prices fairly steady in the face of plunging Windows PC prices translated into dollar share gains in the December quarter,’ wrote analyst Charles Wolf in a note released Wednesday. ‘The Apple story could contain an upside surprise if the Mac can sustain the relative growth rates it sustained in the September and December quarters.'”

“According to Wolf, Macs accounted for 10.5% of total dollars spent on home PCs worldwide during the December quarter, up from just under 4% in the fourth quarter of 2004,” Rogers reports. “Apple’s performance in the U.S. home market was even more impressive — it holds almost 20% of the dollar share.”

Rogers reports, “With a unit share of 5% and nearly 10% respectively in the worldwide PC and U.S. markets, Apple’s dollar growth bodes well for the tech bellwether’s results in 2010… The tech giant’s Mac shipments climbed 33% during the first quarter, reaching 3.36 million units. This surpassed the prior quarter’s then-record shipments of just over 3 million. During its first-quarter conference call, Apple said that its Mac shipment [growth is] double the PC market average.”

Rogers reports, “Apple, which introduced a new iMac and MacBook in October, says that it is enjoying strong demand in the education sector and also in the Asia-Pacific region, where Mac sales grew 54% during the first quarter.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]