Mac sales up 29% year over year due to weak supply of 2012 iMac models

NPD Group published it sales estimate for October to November and Mac sales in this period are up year over year. This jump in sales is not due to extraordinary interest in the Mac this year. Rather it is the result of inventory shortfalls during the same period last year, says a report in AppleInsider. The data published by the NPD Group was relayed by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in a research note sent to investors. According to the data, Mac sales are up 29 percent year over year. This big jump is likely the result of a shortfall of iMacs, which were introduced in November 2012. Apple faced a shortage of these popular new all-in-ones that prompted Tim Cook to reflect on the launch of the iMac during an earnings conference call earlier this year. In response to a question from Mark Moskowitz of J.P. Morgan, Tim Cook said he wished Apple had delayed the iMac launch until 2013. “In retrospect, yes, I sort of wish we had done it after the turn of the year,” Cook said. “Customers wouldn’t have had to have waited as long as they did.” Munster, however, is still optimistic about Mac sales for the year, predicting they will be up 13 percent year over year. Apple has been proactive this year, upgrading almost all of its consumer machines with Intel’s latest Haswell processors. The company rolled out this power-saving update to the MacBook Air first in the month of June, and then added it to the iMac and MacBook Pro in September and October, respectively. The only consumer computer that does not run on the Haswell architecture is the Mac mini, which is still running the older Ivy Bridge processor. With the iPad gaining ground and strong sales of the tablet expected this holiday shopping season, it’ll be interesting to see how these number shake out. It’s possible that iPad sales could cannibalize Mac sales and cause them to slow to a crawl. Any predictions as to which products will see a boost in the current quarter? Continue reading →

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