More analysts concur: Apple had strong Black Friday performance
Monday, December 01, 2008 - 02:29 PM EST"Wall Street analysts seemed to breath a sigh of relief Monday on evidence that unusual price cuts by Apple Inc. helped boost sales of iPods and Macintosh computers over the Black Friday weekend," Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch. "The company set itself up for the beginning of the season by offering one-day discounts on several of its products, with the exception of the mega-popular iPhone. Analysts said Monday that checks at retail outlets suggest that the company cut an average of about 7% off the prices of its iPods, Macs and the Apple TV set-top box. This was an unusual move, as Apple typically doesn't hold sales. Instead, the company lowers its prices once a year when it updates its product lines."
MacDailyNews Take: Abject failure. The move by Apple was in no way unusual and readers should hold accountable those "journalists" who deign to concoct and spew baseless bullshit.
Apple holds Black Friday sales every year and there was absolutely nothing "unusual" about this year's sale:
• Analysts: Apple one bright spot in otherwise lackluster Black Friday - December 01, 2008
• Apple posts Black Friday deals, save on Macs, iPods, and more for one day only - November 28, 2008
• Apple launches Black Friday Deals teaser: ‘Lots of gifts. 1 day not to miss.’ (with image) - November 25, 2008
• Nielsen: Traffic to Apple.com up 111-percent on Black Friday - November 26, 2007
• Apple posts Black Friday deals, save on Macs, iPods, and more for one day only - November 23, 2007
• Ready. Set. Shop: Apple to hold annual one-day only Black Friday shopping event - November 20, 2007
• Apple posts Black Friday deals - November 24, 2006
• Apple announces Black Friday ‘Joy to the Wallet’ special one-day shopping event on Nov. 24th - November 21, 2006
• Apple announces Black Friday ‘The Feast After the Feast’ special one-day shopping event on Nov. 25th - November 21, 2005
Contact Rex Crum and ask him why he's reporting that a normal sale held annually by Apple as "unusual" here. Please also consider contacting the MarketWatch site's feedback via web form here.
Crum continues, "'Our checks show demand for Macs, iPhones and iPods remains resilient despite the weaker consumer spending environment,' Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a note to clients. Whitmore said sales of the recently revamped line of MacBook laptops and the 16-gigabyte versions of the iPod touch and iPod nano were particularly strong and should help boost Apple's gross margins for the quarter. He maintained his buy rating and $150 price target on Apple's stock."
"At Kaufman Bros., analyst Shaw Wu said he would have liked Apple to offer even greater price cuts, but regardless of the company's prices, 'customers appear to be resonating with Apple,'" Crum reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Why? Apple is selling Macs just fine. Better than the rest of the PC industry is selling upside-down and backwards poorly-faked Macs, in fact. Many times better. So, why does Wu want Apple to offer even greater price cuts? Is he in the market for a Mac, iPod and/or iPhone or just does he just want Apple to have weaker margins for some unimaginable reason?
Crum continues, "Wu, who has a buy rating and $120-a-share target on Apple's stock, said the company's apparent performance over the Black Friday weekend is 'a fairly important indicator of [business] trends.' Wu said he is still comfortable with his December quarter estimates for Apple to earn $1.47 a share on $10 billion in revenue for the quarter. He also forecasts iPod sales of 21 million units, which would be down 5% from a year ago, sales of 2.7 million Macs, which would be up 17% over last year's December quarter, and 6 million iPhone sales, up 160% from a year ago."
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Mike in Helsinki" for the heads up.]


I concur too... I was at the South Coast Plaza store and it was not only packed, I dropped two grand on a new MacBook Pro.
That thing is unbelievable, by the way. At first I didn't think it was that big of an update... But trust me, it's huge.