Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes said in a research note “that Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter iPad sales of 11.1 million was weaker than the 11.7 million expected by analysts,” Larry Dignan reports for ZDNet. “Apple channel inventory was up 1.45 million units to 2.5 million. As for the first quarter, Reitzes said ‘we currently estimate iPad unit sales of 13.9 million for the December quarter, which may prove optimistic by 1-2 million units.'”
“It’s time for ‘pricing stimulus,’ said Reitzes. Apple may simply need to cut the price on the entry level iPad. If $200 is the new benchmark for tablets and the [Amazon Kindle] Fire takes off — it just might — then Apple’s iPad will look pricey,” Dignan writes. “Frankly, it’s amazing that Apple has been able to hold iPad pricing this long as rivals repeatedly stumble. Apple will keep the high-end and Amazon will take the low end. Can Apple really afford to cede the low end of the market to others? I’d argue that Apple will have to dabble in the low end just like it does with the iPhone. Apple price cuts — if they are coming — would land in just a few days.”
Read more in the full article here.
Rick Aristotle Munarriz writes for The Motley Fool, “The unthinkable is happening at Apple. The class act of Cupertino may have priced its iPad out of the market this holiday season. Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope is advising clients to keep an eye on iPad sales this quarter, fearing that the company is facing some near-term demand challenges for its iconic tablet. He argues, and rightfully so, that Apple is long overdue for a price cut.”
Munarriz writes, “The funny thing is that the carrier-subsidized iPhone is reasonably competitive to Android handsets, and it’s still losing ground to Android. Why can’t this play out with tablets?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dear analysts, do us all a favor and hold your breath waiting for your “iPad price cuts,” please!
You’d think that by now they’d have at least an inkling of how Apple operates. If they’re “analyzing” Apple, can you imagine how little they know about everything else?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “GetMeOnTop,” “JES42,” and “John A.” for the heads up.]